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A CONTRIBUTION 

4 

TO THE — 

/ 

HISTORY OF THE HUGUENOTS 

OF SOUTH CAROLINA 

CONSISTING OF PAMPHLETS 



SAMUEL ];)UBOSE, Esq. 

OF ST. JOHN'S BERKELEY, SOUTH CAROLINA 

AND 

Prof. FREDERICK A. PORCHER 

OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA 



REPUBLISHED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION 



BY 



T. GAILLARD THOMAS, M.D. 



NEW YORK 

ITbc Iknicfterbocfter iprese 
1887 



tA 



Press of 

G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York 




INTRODUCTION. 



The accompanying historical sketches of the 
Huguenot famiHes which settled in the rich alluvial 
regions within fifty miles of Charleston will prove 
of interest to but few. 

While the modern historian seeks with eagerness 
all records which tell of the Knickerbocker and the 
Puritan, who left their impress clear, distinct, and 
strong upon the country of their adoption, little in- 
terest attaches to the Huguenot, who played a less 
important role in making history and in writing his 
name upon its pages. 

To a certain number of the descendants of those 
devoted men, however, who, in consequence of the 
revocation of the Edict of Nantes by the harsh and 
impolitic act of Louis XIV., settled in various parts 
of this country, faithful sketches like these to which 
this serves as preface, will be prized as contributions 
towards that thus far unwritten '' History of the 
Huguenot Emigrants to America," which I feel sure 
must erelong appear. 

Actuated by these considerations, I have thought 
that a reproduction of the simple, modest, and 
faithful recitals of things which came under the 



vi INTR OD UC TION. 

personal observation of these writers, and which 
have long since been out of print, would give pleas- 
ure to some of the friends of my youth, preserve 
facts for future use which would otherwise be lost, 
and give to my own children an opportunity of 
learning something concerning their forefathers 
which is not recorded elsewhere. 

I need hardly say that these pamphlets have been 
left exactly as they came from the hands of the 
writers, and that they have been reproduced only 
for private circulation. 

Theodore Gaillard Thomas, M.D. 

New York 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Introduction ........ v 

Address Delivered at the Seventeenth Anniver- 
sary OF THE Black Oak Agricultural Society . i 
Reminiscences of St. Stephen's Parish, Craven 

COUNTY, AND NOTICES OF HeR OlD HOMESTEADS . 35 

Historical and Social Sketch of Craven County, 

South Carolina ....... 87 

Notes 169 



ADDRESS 

DELIVERED AT THE SEVENTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

Black Oak Agricultural Society 

ON TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 1858 , 

By SAMUEL DUBOSE. Esq. 

PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY 

TO WHICH IS ADDED, REMINISCENCES OF ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH AND NOTICES 
OF HER OLD HOMESTEADS. BY SAMUEL DUBOSE, ESQ. 



Published at the Request of the Black Oak Agricultural Society 



ADDRESS. 



Gentlemen of the Black Oak Agricultural Society : 
At your last anniversary meeting, the following 
resolution was passed, to wit : 

" Resolved, That the President be requested to prepare, for the 
next anniversary meeting of the Society, an historical account 
of the introduction of cotton-planting into this section of 
country ; together with short biographical sketches or remi- 
niscences of the earlier planters who were instrumental in its 
cultivation — detailing the progress made in its culture and 
preparation for market, in the climatizing of the finer quali- 
ties of cotton, whether by selection of seed grown here or by 
importation from the sea islands, with a comparison of the 
productiveness of our lands at its earliest cultivation with the 
old Santee "black seed" and that of the present time with 
the finer island seed, and all other points of historical interest 
connected with the progress and development of our staple 
crop." 

It will be readily admitted, gentlemen, that pru- 
dence ought to have deterred me from attempting a 
compliance with your wish thus expressed ; having 
no record or reference, but thrown altogether upon 
memory, stretching back over a period of more than 
sixty years. I have, however, been induced by the 
desire to comply with the requirements of a Society 
over which your partiality has called me to preside. 



4 SEVENTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

It is Strange and true that human Hfe is made up 
of the past and future circumstances and events 
that have been and are to come. Behind us lies a 
wide waste, strewed with the wrecks of blasted 
hopes and wasted efforts. In our onward progress 
we grasp at a point of time which we call the pres- 
ent. A moment intervenes, and that moment is 
gone forever. Often would we linger long and 
fondly around those cherished scenes where earthly 
joys shed their brightest rays — but in vain ; the cur- 
rent sweeps on, and those scenes lie behind us, and 
joys which made them bright shall be felt no more. 
Memory belongs to the past ; it lingers among the 
joys that are fled ; it tells of w^hat we have done in 
the days that are gone ; it goes back to the record 
of the past. Memory belongs to the aged. Hope 
revels in the beauties of the morning of life, but its 
promise is often delusive. Through the journey of 
life, it is always sweet to review the happy scenes 
that we have witnessed in other days : the pleasing 
associations of childhood, the friends w^e loved, 
the joys we felt, the affections we indulged, — all 
come up like a sweet dream from the depths of the 
past, and breathe a fragrance upon the spirit in the 
later years of life. But to proceed : 

In the year 1689 a colony of French Huguenots, 
numbering about one hundred and eighty families, 
arrived in Carolina, settled themselves on the San- 
tee, in St. James' Parish, and called their town 



BLACK OAK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 5 

James Town. Their purchase of lands was made 
from the numerous and warHke tribe of Indians 
called the Santees. With these people they lived 
in remarkable friendship, doing them no wrong or 
injustice. They cultivated the soil for their imme- 
diate necessities. As soon as compatible with cir- 
cumstances, they commenced improving their pe- 
cuniary condition by the cultivation of the staple 
products of the soil and the manufacture of naval 
stores. These, as well as indigo dye and rice, 
were articles of prime necessity to the mother 
country. She stimulated their production by a 
bounty upon the articles sent to market. Naval 
stores were a profitable and healthy pursuit to those 
who were advantageously located, and Watboo 
afforded a convenient landing. Fortunes were 
made by those who engaged in the business with 
attention and judgment. Among the most success- 
ful was John Palmer, of Gravel Hill. He com- 
menced life poor, and left at his death about one 
hundred negroes to each of his children. In the 
course of a few years many of the descendants of 
the colony, finding the river swamp lands higher up, 
in what afterward became St. Stephen's Parish, to 
be safer from freshets, gradually bought lands and 
moved up to the whole extent of the parish, until it 
became the most densely populated portion of the 
State out of Charleston. The entire swamp was in 
like manner populated with slaves. In some cases 



6 SEVENTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

the owners and most of the overseers resided on the 
plantations through the year. Indigo was a Hght 
and beautiful crop ; the whole process of changing 
it from the weeds into the matured dry lumps was a 
very nice and critical one, requiring untiring atten- 
tion during night and day ; a periodical change of 
hands was required throughout the time, with the 
exception of him called the indigo maker, who could 
no more leave his post of responsibility, than could 
the captain of a ship on a lee shore. 

Rice also began to be cultivated as a crop ; at 
first on high land and on little spots of low ground, 
as they were met with here and there. These low 
grounds being found to agree better with the plant, 
the inland swamps were cleared for the purpose of 
extending the culture. In the course of time, as 
the fields became too grassy and stubborn, they 
were abandoned for new clearings, and so on ; until 
at length the superior adaptation of the tide-lands 
was discovered, and their great facilities for irriga- 
tion. The inland plantations were gradually aban- 
doned for these, and that great body of land, which 
little more than a century ago furnished for exporta- 
tion over 50,000 barrels of rice, now lies utterly 
waste. Just previous to the Revolution, the tax re- 
turns exhibited upwards of 5,000 slaves within the 
parish, or rather in Santee swamp, there being then 
no settlements out of its limits. 

Few planters failed of acquiring an independence, 



BLACK OAK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 7 

and many made fortunes large for the times and cir- 
cumstances. Among the planters most successful 
at this business was Peter Sinkler, who, without any 
property with which to begin life, went daily with 
his hoe-cake and axe to his labor. At his death 
about twenty-five years afterwards, he left for his 
children three valuable plantations and upwards of 
three hundred slaves. He died in Charleston a 
prisoner to the British, under the most cruel treat- 
ment. Before he was carried from his plantation 
he was made to witness the destruction of the fol- 
lowing property, viz. : twenty thousand pounds of 
mdigo worth one dollar and fifty cents a pound 
one hundred and thirty head of cattle, one hundred 
and fifty-four head of sheep, two hundred head of 
hogs, three thousand bushels of grain, twenty thou- 
sand rails, household furniture valued at ^2,500- 
besides carrying off fifty-five negroes, sixteen blood 
horses, and twenty-eight mares and colts. 

Peter SiakJer was a man remarkable for wonder- 
ful endurance, industry, and skill in the pursuit of 
his business. His parent could afford him only six 
months' schooling, when the necessities of a widowed 
mother and sister required the labor of himself and 
brother at home. When the Revolution broke out 
he devoted himself to the service of his country 
From strong traits of character he soon possessed 
much influence among his fellow-citizens. This the 
enemy became aware of, and determined to make an 



8 SEVENTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

example of him. Like others of the Whigs, he was 
wont occasionally to fly from the privations and 
fatigues endured by the soldiers of Marion's bri- 
gade to recruit within the bosom of his family. 
The enemy having ascertained this determined, if 
possible, to capture him. His own brother-in-law, 
James Boisseau, who had enjoyed no other home 
but his, was won over by bribery to betray him. 
He was captured in the manner following. His 
house was situated within fifty yards of the Santee 
swamp, and it was his habit, when necessary in 
order to avoid the danger which threatened from 
the front, to retire by the back way to his usual 
place of concealment. Boisseau, with a sufficient 
force below, threaded his way to the spot at which 
he knew Mr. Sinkler would enter it. Soon after a 
force was seen descending the avenue. The victim 
took his hat and returning to his place of con- 
cealment found himself in the arms of his captors. 
He was refused an interview with his wife and 
daughters, made to witness the destruction of the 
property as specified, carried off a prisoner to the 
provost in Charleston, and there, without a change 
of clothes, he was thrust into the southeast room of 
the post-office cellar, among a crowd as unfortunate 
as himself, without bedding or even straw to lie 
upon. Typhus fever soon terminated their suffer- 
ings. As his reward Boisseau enjoyed for life a 
commission in the British army and a civil station 
in Nova Scotia. 



BLACK OAK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. g 

At the period of which we write men were much 
more laborious and devoted to their business than 
at the present day ; a fact or two will prove this. 
During the period of manufacturing the indigo dye, 
which was a process requiring the closest atten- 
tion, Mr. Sinkler though he slept every night in 
his bed, never for three weeks saw the face of his 
wife or daughters ; he returned and departed while 
they slept. He and his brother lived full twelve 
miles asunder, and yet they generally visited each 
other after dark ; they would eat supper and then 
return home. All this was done on horseback, sul- 
kies and buggies being then unknown. 

Upon the resort of the planters to the inland 
swamps for the cultivation of rice, the work of 
reclamation and preparation for rendering them safe 
and productive was both arduous and precarious ; 
subject as they were as often to an excess of water, 
as to a want of it when most needed. It is now a 
source of surprise and wonder to examine the 
amount of labor and skill some of the fields in this 
neighborhood exhibit Take, for instance, Wantoot, 
the patrimonial estate of Daniel Ravenel, Esq., who 
died in 1807. On his land four swamps unite to 
form Biggin, each contributing copious streams. 
To unite and concentrate these into one, and bear 
off the water when in excess, as well as distribute it 
into the fields of the different plantations, called for 
judgment, perseverance, and an amount of labor not 



lO SEVENTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

easily understood. Mr. Ravenel resided in Charles- 
ton durinof the summer months when the work had 
to be chiefly carried on, and from thence he issued 
his orders to his driver, who occasionally went to 
town to receive them. On these occasions, for his 
better understanding of his master's wishes, the 
carpet would be taken from the floor of the hall, and 
a plat of the swamp, the creeks, watercourses, etc., 
chalked out for the driver's study and understanding. 
This man was slow of understanding, but very faith- 
ful and assiduous in executing his master's wishes. 
His success was a matter of wonder to the com- 
munity around. 

The war terminated this state of prosperity. On 
the return of peace every planter was deeply in 
debt. For the period of ten years following no in- 
come was realized on account of freshets ; in many 
cases not even provisions. Prime gangs of negroes 
were publicly sold at an average of less than two 
hundred dollars. Rice and indigo and naval stores 
became of little value, because of the loss of the 
bounty formerly allowed under the colonial system. 

The British government, ever true to her colonial 
policy, raised up in rivalry the culture of the indigo, 
both in their West and East India possessions. Be- 
sides all this, they who held property in paper were 
either not paid or paid in worthless, depreciated 
money ; and to complete the threatened ruin of the 
planters, the frequency of the freshets in the swamps 



BLACK OAK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. II 

forced the owners to abandon the cultivation of 
these lands, but recently so valuable. To make this 
better understood, let the fact be stated that Milford 
plantation, containing one hundred acres of high 
land and four or five hundred of swamp, which had 
been sold for six thousand guineas, was abandoned 
at the time we are speaking of as almost worthless. 

The people, however, inspired by the success of 
their struggles and sufferings for liberty, did not 
despond nor slacken their exertions ; they manu- 
factured cloth for their families and slaves ; they 
raised every thing needful for consumption. The 
necessities of the war, and the state of things exist- 
ing for some time after it, greatly increased the 
number of domestic fabrications of the wool, until 
about the year 1790, when the practice of using 
homespun for plantation purposes became very com- 
mon throughout the parishes and districts. The 
yarn was spun at home and sent to the nearest 
weaver. Among the manufacturing establishments, 
the one near Murray's Ferry, in Williamsburg, 
owned by Irish settlers, supplied the adjacent 
country. The cotton for the spinning process was 
prepared in general by the field laborers, who, in 
addition to their ordinary work, picked the seed 
from the wool at the rate of four pounds of clean 
cotton per week. 

In the year 1794 the Santee Canal was com- 
menced. This gave employment to nearly all the 



12 SEVENTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

working negroes in the parish at high and remuner- 
ative wages. This enterprise reHeved the planters 
of a burden which oppressed them, and left them 
partially untrammelled to prepare for the new staple 
which had been for some time exciting their hopes. 

As far back as 1 790 attempts had been made to 
plant cotton as a market crop in different localities 
of the Southern country. Even at an earlier period, 
among the exports from Charleston to Great Britain 
in 1 748, we find seven bags of cotton wool valued at 
£1 IIS. 6d. per bag. In 1754 some cotton was 
again exported from South Carolina. In 1770 
there were shipped to Liverpool three bags from 
New York, four bags from Virginia and Maryland, 
and three barrels from North Carolina. In 1 794 an 
American vessel that carried eight bags to Liverpool 
was seized, on the ground that so much cotton could 
not be the product of the United States. 

In 1785, fourteen bags; in 1786, six bags; in 
1787, one hundred and nine bags; in 1788, three 
hundred and eighty-nine bags ; in 1 789, eight hun- 
dred and forty-two bags ; in 1 790, eighty-one 
baes. The bae of cotton first sold in South 
Carolina was purchased in 1784 by John Teas- 
dale, from Bryan Cape, then a factor in Charles- 
ton. The export of cotton slowly but steadily 
increased until 1 794, when a powerful impetus was 
given to the cotton culture by the invention of the 
saw gin by Eli Whitney of Massachusetts. 



BLA CK OAK A GRICUL TURAL SOCIE TV. 13 

In Georgia the long-staple cotton was first planted 
for market ; in Virginia, North Carolina, and South 
Carolina, the short-staple. 

As early as 1787 small quantities of cotton in the 
seed were brought from Orangeburg district and 
sold to merchants at 2d. per pound, who resold it 
principally to ladies to make patch-work bedquilts. 
When Whitney's saw gin was first exhibited in 
Georgia, none but women were permitted to enter 
the room. An ingenious young mechanic intro- 
duced himself into the apartment in women's ap- 
parel, and by a minute examination of the machine 
satisfied himself that he could not only imitate but 
improve on its construction by making it more effi- 
cient. The gins so constructed were first applied to 
water-power by General Wade Hampton. 

The first attempt to raise a crop of long cotton 
in South Carolina was in 1 788, by Kinsey Burden 
of St. Paul's Parish. In 1793 General Moultrie 
planted a crop of one hundred and fifty acres on 
Northampton plantation. This was a decided fail- 
ure, the result of his unacqualntance with the proper 
method of culture. 

The cotton culture from this time progressed 
rapidly in these parishes. This plant and indigo 
struggled against each other for the ascendancy. 
In three years the latter ceased to be grown as a 
market crop. To prove the value of the crop and 
the success of some of its planters in the parish, in 



14 SEVENTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OE THE 

1 799, Captain Peter Gaillard, of the Rocks planta- 
tion, averaged three hundred and forty dollars per 
hand ; and in the same year Captain James Sinkler, 
at Belvldere, from a crop of three hundred acres, 
realized the amount of two hundred and sixteen 
pounds per acre, for much of which he received 
seventy-five cents per pound, and for none less than 
fifty cents — total, five hundred and nine dollars per 
hand. When first planted as a crop, various were 
the modes adopted for its cultivation, both as to the 
distance most proper and the amount of tillage 
necessary. The crop of Captain Gaillard above 
alluded to was planted on hills four feet square, and 
two stalks left in each hill. Four workings were 
deemed sufiicient for making a crop : the first hoe- 
ing was invariably a flush or hoeing down process ; 
afterwards it was drawn up. The seeds were uni- 
versally planted in drills on the beds, which were 
four feet apart and about their present size ; the 
thinning was done by careful hands selected from 
the gang, doing daily three half acres the first and 
four at the second thinning. 

Peter Gaillard was born at the residence of his 
father, at Wambaw, St. James' Parish, Santee, in 
the year 1757, being the youngest of a family of five 
sons and three dauo^hters. He and David were full 
brothers, his father having a second time married 
after the birth of the first six children. The parents 
were among the Huguenot emigrants from France 



BLACK OAK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 1 5 

the year following the Edict of Nantes. Peter 
grew up to the age of ten before he was placed at 
school, and I have heard him say he believed the 
rapid progress he made was mainly owing to the 
shame and mortification he was subjected to by 
finding boys much his juniors in age his superiors in 
learning ; he soon took a high stand in the school. 
When this school was discontinued, as there was a 
good one near Milford, my grandfather's residence 
in St. Stephen's Parish, he, together with Peter 
Robert, John Ball, and Francis Peyre, all cousins, 
were sent to that school under the charge of their 
uncle, Isaac Dubose, who had five children attend- 
ing the school at the time, viz.: Isaac, David, 
Samuel, Catharine, and Joanna. After finishing their 
academic course here, Peter Gaillard and Samuel 
Dubose were sent to Charleston as clerks in the 
store of Theodore Gaillard, Peter's elder brother. 

Here they continued until the war broke out. In 
consequence of the death of both David and his 
wife Joanna Dubose, Peter became owner of the 
White Plains plantation, to which he removed and 
lived with Samuel Dubose for some time as 
planters of indigo in the swamp. In the progress 
of events the two friends separated. Samuel Du- 
bose taking side zealously with the Whigs, and the 
other remaining neutral. Most of the friends of 
Peter Gaillard warmly espoused the cause of the 
British government ; and the violence and uncom- 



10 SEVENTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

promising character of his father probably influ- 
enced the son. Things remained so until the 
country got in the possession of the enemy. The 
British general, Cornwallis, called into the field 
most of those who had taken protection under his 
proclamation, and when a force was organized to 
hunt out Marion and his men on the Santee, Peter 
Gaillard was appointed second in command. Gen- 
eral Marion, having ascertained the embodying and 
object of the party, suddenly fell upon them at 
Black Mingo and dispersed them ; this was the 
only occasion where an active part was taken 
by Peter Gaillard against his countrymen. His 
friends had long known that he was lukewarm 
towards the cause he had espoused. 

After his father's death Mr. Gaillard wrote a 
letter to my father, to the effect that his future 
services should be rendered for his country's suc- 
cess, and that if he could adopt means to have him 
introduced to Marion and his brigade, he would 
hold himself ready for any arrangement he could 
make, provided it involved no mortifying or 
humiliating feelings. An interview was forthwith 
had with General Marion, the subject opened, and 
the letter placed in his hands. 

The General expressed heartfelt satisfaction at 
the announcement. He passed very warm en- 
comiums upon Peter Gaillard's conduct at the 
battle of Black Mingo, stating that owing to cir- 



BLACK OAK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 1/ 

cumstances the command devolved upon Peter 
Gaillard, who had gallantly sustained himself, and 
that if he had met with support from his brother 
officers the day would have been lost ; Marion's 
force was the weakest, and he had hoped for a sur- 
prise, which he failed to effect. The horses' feet 
on the bridge a mile off apprised the sentinel of 
his approach, and allowed time for the enemy to 
prepare for the battle. Gen. Marion instructed 
my father to return his congratulations, and to say 
that at any hour fixed upon he would advance 
with his staff in front of his brigade, meet Mr. 
Gaillard as a friend, and escort him into camp. 
Policy dictated this, because Peter Gaillard had in 
the camp many bitter foes. The day after being 
fixed upon, my father, who was deputy brigade- 
major under Major K. Simons, left the camp, and 
returned with- his friend at the point designated. 
As soon as he was in sight, Marion advanced with 
his staff, met and cordially greeted him, as did 
each of his family. The manner and the precau- 
tions taken thoroughly quashed every symptom of 
discontent. Peter Gaillard solicited and received 
posts of peril and honor in quick succession. 
When Col. Cotes fired Biggin Church and the 
large amount of stores contained in it, and at- 
tempted to reach Charleston by Bonneau's Ferry, 
Peter Gaillard was given a command to check him 
at Watboo and at Huger's bridges and at Bon- 



1 8 SEVENTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

neau's Ferry ; this duty was gallantly performed, 
and the advance of the enemy stopped at 
'* Brabant," the plantation of Bishop Smith. The 
Americans here came up, and Sumter, the senior 
ofHcer, contrary to the earnest advice of Marion, 
rushed into a battle which proved disastrous to the 
Americans. 

Mr. Gaillard was afterwards under the command 
of General Moultrie, and in many of the engage- 
ments south of Charleston. He also served under 
Col. John Laurens, was one of an advanced party to 
arrest the British in their retreat to Charleston, 
and witnessed the fall of Col. Laurens by one 
of the last balls discharged in that war. 

After the war was over, Capt. Gaillard married 
Elizabeth Porcher, daughter of Peter, of Peru, a 
lady to whom he had long been attached. Some 
unpleasant and annoying occurrences he was fated 
to endure from a very few Whigs, who wanted 
magnanimity to cast a veil over his first and youth- 
ful error. His subsequent course appeared to pro- 
duce no effect upon them. Death, however, in a 
few years, quieted every thing. And no man in any 
community ever commanded in a greater degree 
the confidence and esteem of his acquaintances, 
friends, and neighbors than did Capt. Gaillard. 

I will add in corroboration, that in i 794, when 
the militia laws of the State were remodelled and 
the whole system changed, all commissions were 



BLACK OAK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 19 

vacated and new elections made. The parish 
unanimously elected him captain, and this at a 
time when commissions were more highly estimated 
than at present. 

The disastrous ten years which preceded the in- 
troduction of cotton as a market crop involved 
him, as it did others, in debt and distress. His 
record book, kept with minute accuracy, states the 
fact, that in one of those years the entire crop 
saved from one of those freshets was a few bas- 
kets of unmatured corn, which required drying in 
the sun before it was fit for use. A family, and 
upwards of one hundred slaves, had to be sustained 
without money ; credit had to be obtained from 
the more fortunate who planted on the Wateree or 
Congaree. 

Capt. Gaillard purchased the Rocks in 1794, 
without funds, looking for nothing more than to 
make bread for his dependants. Cotton had not 
been attempted as a crop, and indigo did not pay 
for its cultivation. He settled the plantation in 
1795, and made provisions. In the following year 
he attempted cotton, I believe over one hundred 
acres, with unlooked-for success. On my return 
from school in Camden, late in December, 1796, 
I called in to dine with his overseer, a friend 
of mine, and saw, for the first time, the process of 
ginning and specking cotton. A brilliant prospect 
now opened to the eyes of the desponding planters, 



20 SEVENTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

fully to be realized. The crop of 1799 or 1800 
extricated him from debt. About twenty-two years 
after, Capt. Gaillard divided his lands and negroes 
among eight children, and retired in a green old 
age to enjoy as much of the world's happiness as is 
the lot of man, and lived ten years after. 

I never knew a better, a neater, or a more suc- 
cessful planter than Capt. Gaillard. There was a 
completeness and finish, a compactness and uni- 
formity about every thing, that was pleasant to the 
eye. In a ride one day to "■ Lifeland," my grand- 
father, Peter Sinkler, became the subject of con- 
versation, and the captain thus expressed himself 
about him as a planter. *' If you will make him, 
Mr. Sinkler, the standard of a planter, I have never 
known any other." I adopt and apply this opinion 
to him upon the maturest consideration. There 
was a generosity that belonged to him that few 
possessed, and the knowledge of which would be 
gratifying to his descendants. When a rapid ac- 
cumulation of funds in his factor's hands took 
place, his nephew and factor, Theodore Gaillard, 
Jr., borrowed of him a large sum of money, and 
mortgaged for its safety the plantation now owned 
by Thos. Ashby Esq., and a number of negroes. 
After the bankruptcy of Mr. Gaillard, the mort- 
gage foreclosed, the property sold for very little to 
Captain Gaillard, owing to a great blunder of one 
of the banks, which held a younger mortgage. 



BLACK OAK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 21 

When the Captain found that half the purchase 
could pay him the bona-fide debt, and leave thirty 
negroes, he generously made it over to Theodore's 
children. When he married his second wife, he 
became entitled to her property, but he never used 
one cent of it, but gave it all to her children, re- 
turning even what she had used as his wife. In 
the twenty-three or twenty-four years after Capt. 
Gaillard had paid his last debt, he paid for real 
property $118,000 ; retaining for his own use up- 
wards of $13,000 in stock, and dividing among 
his children upwards of five hundred negroes. 

The gin first used for cleaning cotton of the 
seed was a clumsily constructed foot gin without 
the wheels, as now used, but instead, two cross- 
pieces with clubs at their ends, to give the neces^ 
sary power. The greater part of the crops was 
either ginned early in the morning, or after task- 
work at night, a hand doing four or five pounds at 
each time. Cotton at that period, down to the in- 
troduction of the fine selected seed from the sea 
islands, invariably yielded one pound of clean to 
every three of seed cotton, and when seed was 
selected it was with the view of its so yielding. 
At that time, quantity and not quality was the aim 
in view ; consequently, heavier yields were obtained 
from our lands. Capt. Gaillard told me that his 
average of cotton on the Rocks, for twenty years, 
was one hundred and fifteen pounds per acre. My 



22 SEVENTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

average at Ward's plantation for the six years (I 
planted it in coarse cotton) was one hundred and 
twenty-three pounds per acre, from the year 1850 
to 1856 inclusive. 
\ In the accounts current published in the gazettes 
of 1792 the article of cotton does not appear, yet 
it is evident that even at a much earlier date it was 
vended in Charleston in small parcels varying from 
one to thirty pounds. In 1787 two or three bags, 
about one hundred pounds each, were packed by 
Mr. S. Maverick and shipped to England as a sam- 
ple and experiment. The answer of the consignees 
was discouraging. It is not worth producing, said 
they, as it cannot be separated from the seed. 

In 1794 Col. Wm. Thomson, of revolutionary 
memory, planted cotton for market at Belleville, in 
St. Matthew's Parish. In i 796 cultivators of the crop 
appeared in several parts of the State. It was first 
grown in the district of Sumter by John Mayrant, 
in 1798. The year afterwards Gen. Wade Hamp- 
ton introduced the plant into Richland district. 
With the energy and sagacity which distinguished 
him, he began his operations on an extensive scale, 
and from six hundred acres he gathered over six 
hundred bags. Although not the first to use 
Whitney's gin in South Carolina, he was the first 
who used water as the propelling power. 

Sea island, or black-seed cotton beean to be 
raised in Georgia in experimental quantities in 



BLACK OAK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 23 

1 786. The native place of the seed is beheved to 
be Persia. The first bag exported from Georgia 
was grown on St. Simon's Island in the year 1788. 
The black-seed cotton region of the State is 
bounded on the north and northwest by a line 
a few miles south of the line that separates Barn- 
well and Orangeburg from the neighboring par- 
ishes ; on the northeast and east by the Santee 
River, on the west and southwest by the Savannah 
River. It formerly was cultivated both in Williams- 
burg and Sumter districts, in their southern por- 
tions. 

The crops were sufficiently encouraging, but the 
preparation of the wool was objectionable ; the 
growers abandoned the experiment on account 
of the large expenditure of labor and time that it 
required. 

The first attempt in South Carolina to raise a 
crop of long cotton was made in 1788, by Mr. 
Kinsey Burden, of St. Paul's Parish. The product 
was packed in the article called Hessians. In 1780, 
when England had no fine manufactories, the best 
cottons brought to her market were from Demerara 
and Surinam. These then commanded about two 
shillings. These were superseded by the sea 
islands, which in i 799 sold readily at five shillings 
per pound. Its price in this State in the infancy of 
its production was generally from ninepence to two 
shillings, until 1806 or 1807, when for the first time 



24 SEVENTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

the planters experienced the baleful effects of re- 
strictions on commerce. From the superiority 
of this cotton to that raised in any other country, 
even from the same seed, the staple at first was 
objected to as too long, and by one or two English 
spinners it was actually cut shorter. 

When first planted the seed was placed in small 
hills five feet square, but by some in holes made on 
the level land that distance apart. Seldom more than 
one hundred pounds were made to the acre, until 
the system of having more stalks in the acre was 
adopted. It may be remarked that the plough was 
practically unknown to the first growers of long 
cotton, and is still so here to a great extent, although 
half a century has elapsed. 

Notwithstanding the facilities offered by the 
woods everywhere for an abundant store of suitable 
aliment, no effort at manuring extended beyond a 
potato field, which never exceeds a quarter of an 
acre of land to the hand. There were no rakes for 
collecting leaves, nor carts specially designed for 
carrying the vegetable offal to the cattle pen or 
stable. 

Various were the gins constructed for cleansing 
the cotton of the seed. The first was Eave's gin, 
to be worked by animal or water-power ; next, 
Pottle's, of Georgia ; Birnie's, Simpson's, and 
Nicholson's gins ; next, Whitmore's, Farrls' and 
Logan's. These were all modifications of Eave's 



BLACK OAK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 25 

gin. None of these, however, stood the test of 
trial, and were successively abandoned for the foot- 
gin. Some of these gins were bought at two hun- 
dred and fifty dollars each. As slovenly as was 
originally the tillage of the cotton plant, the prepa- 
ration of its produce for market was much more so. 
It was indeed so badly cleaned as to be deemed 
suitable only for the coarser fabrics. 

Up to 1830, the pickers took no especial pains 
to abstract the dead leaves. The wool was sunned 
all day, and ginned often with stained particles in- 
corporated with it. In the process of moting, these 
were removed by women sitting on the floor, where 
it was whipped with twigs. No bag or box re- 
ceived the cotton as it fell from the gin. In pack- 
ing, an old iron axle-tree or wooden pestle was used, 
as at present. With many the cotton was ginned, 
moted, and packed in the same room. 

It is proper here to remark that while the quali- 
ty of the wool has been vastly improved, the prod- 
uct of the plant has been proportionately dimin- 
ished. Although, therefore, the pecuniary circum- 
stances of some individuals have been greatly im- 
proved, the planters generally have sustained a loss, 
in some instances to an almost ruinous extent. 
The stalk produces no more pods, and yet, five 
and often seven pounds of seed cotton are required 
to yield one of clean, instead of one to three, as 
formerly. Ten years ago, the staple of our sea 



26 SEVENTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

island cotton was about twenty per cent, better 
than any other cotton produced ; owing to circum- 
stances, it is now estimated at from thirty to forty 
per cent, in favor of the former.' 

Encouraged by the actual product of their fields, 
our fathers continued to cultivate the grounds 
which their judgments first selected for the new 
crop. After several years of exhausting tillage, it 
became obvious that a radical change in their oper- 
ations must take place. Unaccustomed to receive 
information from books concerning their pursuits, 
the plain alternative of resorting to virgin soils 
was adopted, and soon as one field was worn out 
another was cleared. 

In most beo^inninors, awkwardness and want of 
skill retarded our full success. In no case have I 
known a more striking exemplification than in that 
which I am about to relate. To as late a period as 
1 80 1, to pack a bag of cotton was deemed a reason- 
able day's work, without the packer's having him- 
self to make the bag. This was considered a 
seamstress's work, who found five an ample day's 

' The value of cotton yarn is estimated by its length. The extreme of 
fineness, says Mr. Baines in his work on the " Cotton Manufactories of 
Great Britain," published in 1835, to which yarns for muslins are even spun 
in England, is two hundred and fifty hanks to the pound, which would yield 
a thread measuring one hundred and nineteen and a half miles. A pound 
of fine cotton manufactured Snto the finest lace yields from four hundred 
and eighty to five hundred hanks per pound, and makes a thread from one 
hundred and ninety-seven to two hundred and thirty-eight miles long, and 
is worth from sixty dollars to four hundred and fifty dollars per pound. 



BLACK OAK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 2/ 

task. The overseer on Belvidere plantation pon- 
dered on this, and desirous of doing the community 
a service, sent an invitation to the gentlemen of 
Pineville to visit Belvidere to see his packer meas- 
ure off three bags, make and pack them to hold 
three hundred and six pounds each, in time for 
them to return to Pineville in seasonable time, — and 
that they should be provided with as good a dinner 
as he could furnish. Strange to say, this invitation 
was not taken in good part by all. Mr. John 
Palmer alone accepted the call and determined to 
attend. On the appointed day he went up and 
witnessed the performance of the promise. On 
leaving one hour and a half before sunset, the 
third bag had only to be headed, and by seven 
o'clock the same evening the announcement was 
made to the gentlemen in Pineville. Thirty years 
after, I knew the same packer execute the same 
task, with ease to himself, when required. 

At the time when planters relied altogether upon 
the swamp lands for their incomes, they were occa- 
sionally disappointed by the recurrence of freshets. 
To the most enterprising it occurred that embank- 
ments would effect some security, particularly 
against what would be called small rises. The 
Sinklers, Peter and James, took the lead in this, 
and to a degree were renumerated for their labor ; 
but the water surrounding their banks on all four 
sides allowed no possibility of getting off what 



28 SEVENTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

rained in or soaked in through the banks. The 
experiment was therefore abandoned. Major Sam- 
uel Porcher, aware of the cause of the failure, and 
possessing a plantation which jutted against the 
highland, judiciously determined to avail himself of 
the advantage which circumstances afforded him, 
and for years kept his resolve to himself, until he 
was enabled to purchase some adjoining tracts of 
land which were essential to his success. At length 
this was accomplished, and in 1817 he commenced 
his orreat work. Few men are free from weak 
points of character, and most men can be made to 
act weakly if assailed at these points. Major 
Porcher, however, was not swayed by any adverse 
opinions, the advice of friends, or the laughter and 
jeers of others, but on he went, in a w^onderful reli- 
ance on his own judgment. Who will not now ad- 
mit that he has given greater evidence of practical 
wisdom, enterprise, persevering energy, patience, 
and indomitableness of purpose than any other 
South Carolinian ? Any man in this country who 
can make his provisions in a rich swamp, and plant 
only long cotton on high land, every acre of which 
he can therefore manure, has it in his power to 
thrive, and need never think of the West. 

Mr. Samuel Foxworth, then nineteen years of 
age, as his overseer, and his driver George, through 
a period of thirty years, served him faithfully. 
When the work was about to begin, George was 



BLACK OAK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 29 

promised his freedom upon its completion ; the 
promise was kept. It was a gratifying sight in 
after time to see the old man livincr in close con- 
tiguity to the scenes of his labor and anxieties, 
enjoying the privileges he had won. And what 
has bound Mr. Foxworth through the long period 
of forty years to " Mexico," but the '' bank " ? Noth- 
ing else. For forty years he has been building a 
great work, and repairing and improving it ; he has 
thought of it by day, and dreamed of it by night, 
with the anxious solicitude that a mother feels for 
her infant. At times he almost fainted and desisted 
from despondency ; then again he worked with zeal 
and enthusiasm inspired by hope. All the time he 
labored in more or less doubt, whether the result 
would be a blank or a prize ; and much of this time 
he had to endure the ridicule of doubters. When- 
ever drawbacks or disasters occurred, and he had 
to plunge into mud and water to repair damages 
that seemed to yawn a warning mockery of his 
power, instead of condolence and well-wishes of 
his neighbors and friends, he received from the 
enemies of the great work the taunting exclama- 
tions : "I told you so." At length the ''bank" 
was completed, then perfected, and '' Mexico " be- 
came the land of promises realized. The swamp 
yielded in abundance its corn, oats, etc., and echoed 
with the exultant bellowing of fat cattle, and the 
once exhausted fields of high land, now devoted 



30 SEVENTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

exclusively to cotton and receiving a double amount 
of manure and rest, became more productive than 
nature had originally made them. 

To whatever embarrassment and distress these 
parishes were subjected by the circumstances of the 
times, the districts of the upper portion of the State 
had their full share and even more. Rice and naval 
stores were out of their reach. Wheat, for the want 
of merchant mills, availed them little beyond their 
domestic wants. The first mill erected was in 
Camden, by Col. Broome, in 1795 ; the production 
of that grain was greatly stimulated thereby, and 
Camden soon became a market for flour of a 
superior quality. At the same time tobacco, as a 
market crop, was planted, chiefly by emigrants 
from Virginia. Extensive inspections were estab- 
lished, the first one near the bank of the Wateree 
River, but this with about two hundred hogsheads 
of tobacco was swept away by the unprecedented 
freshet of 1796. It was afterwards rebuilt in the 
town of Camden. The cultivation received an im- 
petus, as well in that district as in some of the 
adjacent counties of North Carolina ; the business 
was pursued with considerable energy and success. 
To get the heavy hogshead to market, an axle was 
run through the centre and traces fixed to each 
end ; it was thus drawn or rolled by one horse to 
market, hundreds of miles. 

But the curse which a seeming necessity had 



BLACK OAK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 31 

brought upon the inhabitants was the business of 
manufacturing ardent spirits. The chief source of 
income from most of the farms was apples and 
peaches to supply the distilleries, which were 
dotted every three or more miles throughout the 
up country. Intemperance followed as a natural 
consequence, and demoralization afflicted society 
to a frightful degree. My residence in Camden 
about this time made me a witness of scenes de- 
grading to the nature of man and revolting to the 
feelings. Imagine then the abandonment of these 
for a substitute like cotton. In cultivation easy, 
healthful, remunerative, and congenial to almost 
every acre of land in our wide-spread Southern and 
Western country. A labor in which wives and 
daughters may conveniently and safely share with 
the husband and father. While he traces the 
furrow, they, protected by their sun bonnets, eradi- 
cate the weeds with a light hoe. 

A few years afterwards, independence and the 
peace of mind which it brings became their pos- 
session ; with these morality and good order im- 
proved, and in a short time cotton was acknowl- 
edged and hailed as a blessing from God to the 
human race. For clothing, for wealth, with 
abundance and cheapness of cloth, who can plead 
an excuse for want of supply and cleanliness ? 

In casting our eyes over the prospect of our 
country, and reflecting upon the evils which occa- 



32 SEVENTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

sionally beset us, do not the lessons of the past 
teach us the virtue of frugality and the necessity 
of a change in the relations which now exist be- 
tween the factor and planter ? The former should 
not incur obligations, startling in their amount and 
beyond their control, when monetary disturbances 
arise to distress them ; and the planter must not so 
heedlessly avail himself of accommodations so freely 
tendered. With cotton and sugar, rice and tobacco, 
necessary for the world's consumption, in the hands 
of the South, her influence would be paramount 
over every portion of the world. In vain is it that 
hundreds of thousands of fields grow white annually 
with the harvests, if creditors own it before it be 
gathered. If this goes on, the power placed in our 
hands will be barren, and we shall find ourselves in 
the hands of the domestic and foreign purchaser. 
The memory of one reverse should, it might be 
supposed, continue long enough to prevent the re- 
currence of old follies, or the repetition of former 
fatal mistakes. But it is a melancholy truth that 
almost utter forgetfulness of past suffering succeeds 
the dawn of prosperity, or if remembered at all 
they are no more than the visions of a disturbed 
sleep. Our labors suffer most from these monetary 
disturbances, whilst we are the factor's debtors ; 
but there would be no necessity for this if the 
planters were free from heavy pecuniary obligations 
to the factor. His marketable staples would not 



BLACK OAK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 33 

lose their intrinsic value and fall a sacrifice in the 
struggle. The indebtedness of the planter to the 
factor, anticipating the proceeds of the crop, and 
being one year in expenditures ahead of receipts, 
has done more to produce the mischief than all 
other causes combined. But for this our merchants 
could have dictated the price of cotton to the con- 
sumers of the world. 



REMINISCENCES 

OK 

St. Stephen's Parish, Craven County 

AND 

NOTICES OF HER OLD HOMESTEADS 
By SAMUEL DUBOSE 



Printed at the Request of numerous Friends desirous of Preserving the fast fading History 
of that Interesting Region. 



36 



REMINISCENCES. 



To Prof. F. A. Porcher. 

My Dear Sir : — You request me, as the oldest 
inhabitant left among us, to give you of the present 
day as particular an account as I may have it in my 
power, of the individuals who once peopled this 
portion of our State, and as much of their habits, 
occupations, and genealogy as I either knew and 
remember, or have learnt from others. It is in com- 
pliance with this request that I have made the 
following sketch. I have often regretted that the 
opportunities for something better and more satis- 
factory had been so thoughtlessly neglected. 

About twenty years before the revolutionary 
war, the belt of land bordering on the Santee 
River, through the whole extent of the parish 
of St. Stephen's, was the garden spot of South 
Carolina. The lands were not liable to the high 
and sudden freshets to which they have since been 
subject. The upper country being then but par- 
tially cleared and cultivated, the greater part of its 
surface was covered with leaves, the limbs and 
trunks of decaying trees, and various other Impedi- 
ments to the quick discharge of the rains which 

37 



38 REMINISCENCES OF 

fall upon it, into the creeks and ravines leading 
into the river ; consequently much of the water 
was absorbed by the earth or evaporated before it 
could be received into its channels, and even when 
there so many obstacles yet awaited its progress, 
that heavy contributions were still levied upon it. 
The river, too, had time to extend along its course 
the first influx of water before that from more 
remote tributary sources would reach it. Owing 
to these and other causes, the Santee was compara- 
tively exempt from those freshets which have since 
blighted the prosperity of what was once a second 
Egypt. A breadth of three or four miles of swamp 
as fertile as the slime of the Nile could have made 
it, was safe for cultivation ; and its margins were 
thickly lined with the residences of as prosperous a 
people as ever enjoyed the blessings of God. Some 
there were who lived in the swamp, and even on 
the very bank of the river. The exceeding fertility 
of the soil rendered labor scarcely necessary to 
make it a wilderness of vegetable luxuriance. The 
great quantity of decomposing matter, and the 
myriads of insects incident thereto, and the abun- 
dant yield of seeds, furnished by the rank weeds 
and grass, caused the poultry-yard to teem with a 
well-fed population, and the pastures of crab grass 
and cane, which are yet proverbial, poured into 
the dairies streams of the richest milk, and en- 
livened the scene at morn and evening with the 



ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH. 39 

lowing of herds of fat cattle. Nor were swine in 
abundance, and countless fish of the finest quality 
from the exhaustless river, wanting to fill up the 
measure of the people's comforts. 

Before the eye was spread nature in all her 
majesty and beauty : here the noblest of American 
forest-trees in all the perfection which prosperity 
can develop ; there a noble placid river flowing in 
its slow majestic course, its opposite low and 
beachy shore fringed with the delicate willow 
whose branches drooped into the gliding current. 
On each side were seen nature and art co-operating 
to produce as rich a prospect as ever caused the eye 
of the agriculturist to dance with hope. I have 
never listened to representations of comfort more 
perfect and exuberant than those often given me of 
the scenes which I am attempting to describe, by 
those who had known and loved them. It was my 
delight, when a boy, to hear told how at evening the 
family would sit in the humble porch, and enjoy the 
rich delights of a spring twilight, listening to the 
songs of the feathered multitude, the stirring buzz 
of the bees as they carried their last load to their 
hives, the cackling of the poultry as they sought 
their proper resting-place, the sad wail of the whip- 
poorwill, the lowing of the richly freighted cows, 
and the bleating of their eager young, and admir- 
ing the rich and gorgeous colors of the trees, 
shrubs, and plants, varied according to their natures 



40 REMINISCENCES OF 

and the mellowing Influence of the fading light. 
But the thouorhts of that land of Goshen have 
caused me to linger by the way and to lose sight of 
the narrative I have promised. 

Such was the country ' that attracted the atten- 
tion of so many of our Huguenot ancestors and in- 
duced them to abandon their first homes in St. 
James', Santee, and seek one so much more con- 
genial to the indigo plant, at that time the staple 
product of the State, and made more profitable by 
the bounty granted by the mother country. One 
after another of the planters moved up as oppor- 
tunity offered for the purchase of land, and in a 
very few years the population exceeded that of any 
other portion of the State out of Charleston. At 
the commencement of the revolution the militia 
company of St. Stephen's numbered one hundred 
and twenty-six men, rank and file, and the tax re- 
turns showed that there were five thousand slaves 
owned within the parish ; and this, too, when the 
settlements were, with very few exceptions, north 
of the river road, and about half a dozen planta- 
tions on Fair Forest swamp. 

I. The plantation known as " Mexico," at the 
western extremity of the parish, was the residence 
of the late Major Samuel Porcher. This planta- 
tion is made up of several small tracts of land, 
many of which had been the homesteads of their 

' See Note A at the end. 



ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH. 4 1 

owners. Major Porcher was the fourth child of 
Peter Porcher of Peru. In 1789 he married Har- 
riet, daughter of Philip Porcher, by whom he had a 
daughter, Harriet, who married James Gaillard, 
second son of Peter Gaillard of the Rocks ; and 
three sons, Philip, who married Selina Shackelford, 
Thomas William, who married the daughter of 
Peter Gaillard, Jr., and W. Mazyck Porcher, the 
present proprietor. 

2. The next plantation was Burnt Savanna, now 
a part of Belle Isle. For some time before the 
revolution this place was the residence of General 
Mar^Ion, and In its retirement he probably prepared 
himself for the part he was to act in that stormy 
period. He married late in life Mary Videau, and 
died childless in 1795. 

3. The third plantation, '* Belle Isle," was the 
residence of Robert Marion, Esq. He was the 
third son of Gabriel Marion and Catharine Taylor. 
His brothers, Gabriel and Benjamin, never mar- 
ried. Of his sisters, Catharine died unmarried ; his 
younger sister, Charlotte, married Anthony Ashby, 
by whom she had a daughter, who married Richard 
Smgleton, and after Mr. Ashby's death she married 
Theodore S. Marion, by whom she had a daughter, 
who. In 1808, became the wife of the writer. Mr. 
Robert Marlon married Mrs. Esther Deveaux (nee 
Gignllllat), mother of the late Stephen G. Deveaux. 
This marriage produced no children. 



42 REMINISCENCES OF 

4. Northwest of Mexico, and directly on the 
river bank, was the residence of Thomas Walter, 
Esq., the botanist, an Englishman by birth. He 
embellished his seat with a botanical garden, which 
long commanded the admiration of his neighbors. 
His first wife was Sarah Peyre, by whom he had 
two daughters ; his second wife was Dolly Cooper, 
whose daughter, Emily, their only child, married 
Judge Charlton of Savannah. 

5. Between Belle Isle and the river road on the 
south was the residence of Peter Couturier. He 
married Rebecca Couturier, by whom he had a son, 
Elias, father of the late Peter Couturier. After his 
death his widow married Gideon Kirk, and became 
the mother of the late Mrs. Harriet Marion, of 
Robert Kirk, and of Louisa Kirk. 

6. South of the road was the residence of Dr. 
James Lynah, a native of Ireland ; from this place 
he attended to a large medical practice. Both this 
place and that of Mr. Couturier now constitute a 
portion of Belle Isle. 

7. Blueford was formerly the residence of Philip 
Williams, who, removing to York, sold it to Peter 
Sinkler. By him it was left to his son Peter, who, 
dying childless, bequeathed it to the children of his 
sister Elizabeth, wife of Samuel Dubose. It was 
the residence of the late Col. William Dubose, her 
second son, and is now that of Julius Dubose, his 
nephew and her grandson. 



ST. STEPHEN" S PARIS//. 43 

8.^ North of Blueford was Milford, the residence 
of Isaac Dubose, who left it to his eldest son, Isaac, 
by whom it was sold to Samuel Cordes. The elder 
Isaac Dubose married Miss Boisseau, by whom he 
had three sons and two daughters, viz. : Isaac, who 
married Mary Dutart ; David, who married Eliza- 
beth Moncrieff; and Samuel, who married Eliza- 
beth Sinkler. His daughter Joanna married David 
Gaillard of White Plains; his other daughter, 
Catharine, died unmarried. 

9. The Lane plantation was owned by Samuel 
Cordes, Esq. 

10. Tower Hill was settled by John Couturier. 
He married Elizabeth Couturier, and had three 
sons and a daughter. His son John married first 
a Miss Cook, and after her death Miss Ann 
Cahusac; they were the parents of the late Dr. 
John Couturier of Pineville. Thomas married 
Miss Buford of Williamsburg, who, after his death, 
married Judge Richardson. Joseph married Miss 
Ellinor Couturier, and after her death Miss Louisa 
Kirk. The daughter married Major William 
Macdonald. 

11. The Island was formerly a homestead, and 
when I first knew it, was the property of John 
Couturier. It is now a part of Tower Hill. 

1 2. I do not know who first settled and occupied 
Johnsrun. It was once owned by the Williamses, 
who lived there ; it was held by various persons on 



44 REMINISCENCES OF 

hire until i 793, when it was bought by a French- 
man, who soon abandoned it, and it was purchased 
by Capt. John Palmer. It is now the residence of 
his grandson, S. Warren Palmer. 

13. Between this place and the river is Ray's, so 
called from the former owner and resident. He 
died about 1 793. 

14. On the east of Ray's was Claybank, the 
property and residence of Peter Palmer, and now 
a part of Richmond. In 1790 Mr. Palmer left this 
place for Pole Bridge, three miles to the south. 

15. West of Pole Bridge is Murrell's, called by 
the name of the original owner ; it passed into the 
hands of John Frierson, and was afterwards owned 
and settled by Samuel Dubose, son of Isaac, of 
Milford. Mr. Dubose married first Elizabeth, 
daughter of Peter Sinkler, and had four children, 
viz.: Samuel, who married Eliza Marion, and after 
her death Ann P. Stevens ; William, who married 
Laura Stevens ; Elizabeth, who married Colonel 
Thomas Porcher ; and Anna Maria, wife of William 
Cain. After the death of Elizabeth Sinkler, Mr. 
Dubose married Mrs. Martha White, and had 
Isaac, who married Marianne Porcher ; Martha, the 
wife of Peter Porcher of Tibbekudlaw ; and Louisa, 
wife of David Gaillard, late of Fairfield. 

16. Richmond was settled in 1769 by John 
Palmer, and was his residence until his death in 
181 7. He married Ann, the daughter of Robert 



ST. STEPHEN'S FAIRISH. 45 

Cahusac, by whom he had three sons — John, who 
married Mary Jerman, Joseph, who married EHza 
Porcher, and Maham, who died unmarried — and 
two daughters : Anne, the wife of O'Neal Gough 
Stevens, ancj after his death of Peter Gaillard, of 
the Rocks ; and Marianne Gendron, wife of Gabriel 
Gicrnilliat, and afterwards of Georo^e Porcher. 

1 7. South of Richmond was Maham's, the resi- 
dence of Col. Hezekiah Maham. His wife was 
Miss Guerin ; and they had two daughters, one of 
whom married Mr. Waties, and the other Dr. Haig. 
Both of these ladies became widows and married 
again — the first, Robert Smith ; and the second, Dr. 
Samuel Wilson of Charleston. 

18. Next to Richmond and east of it was the 
residence of Charles Richbourgh. He left no 
children, and the place was purchased by Theodore 
Gaillard of Charleston. It now forms a part of the 
Richmond tract. 

19. Chlnners was settled by a person of that 
name, and abandoned before the revolution. It is 
now part of Lifeland. 

20. Next is Lifeland, the residence of Peter 
Sinkler. This place was purchased by his mother 
from Mrs. Jamison, who married Gen. Sumter. 
Peter Sinkler had a brother, and a sister, Dolly, 
who married General Richardson of Clarendon. 
Mr. Sinkler's first wife was Elizabeth Mouzon, sister 
of Henry Mouzon, the surveyor and engineer. 



46 REMINISCENCES OF 

Their children were Jane, who married Joseph 
Glover, of Colleton ; Peter, who married Mary, 
daughter of Richard Walter ; James, who never 
married ; and Elizabeth, wife of Samuel Dubose 
of Murrell's. His second wife was Miss Boisseau, 
who died childless. His third wife was Catharine, 
daughter of Joseph Palmer of Webdo. She had a 
daughter, Catharine, who married Francis Peyre. 
His fourth wife was the widow of Rene Peyre ; her 
daughter by her first husband, Florida Peyre, mar- 
ried John P. Richardson. 

Few patriots of the revolution suffered more than 
Peter Sinkler, and as woe even if long continued is 
soon told, we shall dwell briefly upon his sufferings. 
His age, position, and strongly marked character 
gave him considerable influence with his fellow citi- 
zens ; and the British, who were aware of it, deter- 
mined to get him in their power. After many ineffect- 
ual attempts to take him, they succeeded by bribing 
his brother-in-law James Boisseau, an ingrate who 
betrayed the man that gave him a home. Like 
most of the Whigs, Mr. Sinkler was accustomed oc- 
casionally to enjoy in the bosom of his family a res- 
pite from the fatigues and privations of Marion's 
camp. Aware of the danger to which he was ex- 
posed, but totally unsuspicious of the person who 
was to betray him, he had a hiding-place in the 
swamp that lay not fifty yards north of his house, 
where he could be secure from everything but 



ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH. 47 

treachery. When he was known to be at Lifeland, 
Boisseau covertly introduced a party to his lurking 
place, and at the same time a party of the British 
approached the house by the avenue. As soon as 
this party was seen, Mr. Sinkler retired to his place 
of concealment and there found himself a captive. 
He was not allowed to take leave of his wife and 
daughters, but was carried to Charleston, a prisoner, 
without even a change of clothes, and thrust in the 
southeast cellar of the provost, now the post-office, 
where were others as unfortunate as himself, with- 
out bedding or even straw to lie upon. Typhus 
fever soon put an end to his sufferings. 

He was detained at Lifeland long enough to wit- 
ness the brutality of his captors and the savage 
recklessness with which they wantonly destroyed his 
property. The beds were taken from the house, 
ripped open, and their contents scattered to the 
winds ; his provision houses were opened and sacked, 
his poultry and stock shot down, and several crops 
of indigo destoyed or carried off. After his death 
a commission was appointed by the State to ascer- 
tain the amount and value of property so destroyed, 
and the following schedule was furnished by Capt. 
John Palmer: fifty-five negroes; twenty thousand 
pounds of Indigo ; sixteen blooded horses ; twenty- 
eight blooded mares and fillies ; one hundred and 
thirty head of stock cattle ; one hundred and fifty- 
four head of sheep ; two hundred hogs ; three thou- 



48 REMINISCENCES OF 

sand bushels of grain ; twenty thousand rails ; 
household furniture, liquors, plantation tools, poul- 
try, etc., to the value of ^2,500 currency. The re- 
ward of Boisseau's treachery was a commission in 
the British army and a civil station in Nova Scotia, 
which he enjoyed during his life. 

21. On the east of Lif eland was the residence of 
a Mr. Seymour, who died or removed before my 
recollection. This place forms a part of Lifeland. 

22. Windsor, the next plantation, was the resi- 
dence of John Gaillard, Esq., who married Judith, 
daughter of Rene Peyre. They had three sons 
and four daughters. John, so long U. S. Senator, 
married Mary Lord, and had one son, the late Dr. 
Theodore Gaillard. Theodore, the late judge, mar- 
ried Cornelia Marshall ; Peyre married Miss Hall ; 
Elizabeth married Major Randall of the British 
army ; Mary married Dr. Samuel Thomas ; Lydia 
married Mr. Edward Croft ; and Louisa married 
Thomas Hunt, and had a numerous family now set- 
tled in Louisiana. 

23. East of Windsor is White Plains, formerly 
the residence of David Gaillard, who married Joanna 
Dubose, and after his death, of Peter Gaillard of the 
Rocks, his younger brother. Peter Gaillard married 
Elizabeth, daughter of Peter Porcher of Peru. Their 
children were : first, Peter who married Eliza Gour- 
din ; second, Elizabeth, wife of John Stoney ; third, 
Lydia, wife of William Snowden ; fourth, James, 



ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH. 49 

who married Harriet Porcher, and after her death 
Henrietta Ravenel (nee Gourdin), widow of Dr. 
James Ravenel of Wantoot ; fifth, Thomas, now of 
Alabama, who married Marianne Palmer ; sixth, 
Catharine, wife of Thomas Porcher of Whitehall ; 
seventh, David, who married Elizabeth Palmer, and 
after her death Louisa Dubose ; eighth, Samuel, 
who married Henrietta Palmer. 

24. Ancrum's, the next place, was the residence 
of Isaac Porcher. After his death his daughter 
married George Ancrum, and they lived there till 
death. Their son, William Ancrum, removed to 
Camden, and sold the place to Theodore Gaillard, 
who bequeathed it to his daughter Mrs. Theodore 
Gourdin. It now belongs to her son, Capt. T. Louis 
Gourdin. 

25. Between Ancrum's and Peru reserve, a place 
was inhabited by a Mr. Ray. I know no more of 
him than his name. 

26. Peru, the next place, was the residence of 
Peter Porcher. He married Elizabeth Cordes, and 
left four children: first, Elizabeth, wife of -Peter 
Gaillard of the Rocks ; second, Peter, who married 
Elizabeth, daughter of Benjamin Marion ; third, 
Thomas of Ophir, who married Charlotte Mazyck, 
and after her death Elizabeth Dubose; fourth, 
Samuel Porcher of Mexico, who married Harriet 
Porcher. 

27. The Oldfield plantation was the residence of 



50 REMINISCENCES OF 

Philip Porcher, brother of Peter of Peru. His wife 
was Mary Mazyck. They had eight children : first, 
Mary, who died unmarried in 1834; second, Mari- 
anne, wife of Thomas Broughton of Mulberry ; 
third, Philip, who married Catharine Cordes ; fourth, 
Peter, who married Charlotte Ravenel, and after her 
death Marion Johnston of Oakfield ; fifth, Eliza- 
beth, wife of William Mazyck, late of Charleston ; 
sixth, Harriet, wife of Major Samuel Pbrcher; 
seventh, George, ,who married Marianne Gignilliat 
(nee Palmer) ; and eighth, Isaac, who married Mary, 
dauehter of Plowden Weston, and after her death 
Mary, daughter of O'Neal Gough Stevens, and 
after her death Charlotte, daughter of Rene Rav- 
enel of Pooshee. Mrs. Mazyck and Mrs. Porcher 
both died in 1843 5 ^^y ^^^^ lived with their hus- 
bands upwards of fifty-four years. 

28. Dover, the next place, was formerly the resi- 
dence of Robert Cahusac. It then became the 
property of Charles or Samuel Peyre, and after his 
death, of John Peyre, by whom it was sold to Philip 
Porcher. It was for several years the home of Isaac 
Porcher, and by him sold to Mrs. Charlotte Cordes. 

29. East of Dover was Harleston's, so called from 
the name of the owner. 

30. Yaughan, the next plantation, became, under 
the English law of primogeniture, the property of 
John Cordes. He generously surrendered it to his 
younger brother, Thomas Cordes, who lived and 



ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH. 5 1 

died on it. His wife was Charlotte Evance, and 
their children were : first, the late Dr. Samuel 
Cordes ; second, Catharine ; third, Evance ; fourth, 
Lavidia, wife of C. B. Cochran, Esq.; fifth, Camilla. 
Mr. Cordes was an ardent patriot, and contrived to 
annoy the British in a variety of ways while they 
held possession of the parish. He would liberate 
their prisoners, delude them with false informations, 
break his parole, and made himself so obnoxious 
that it was determined to destroy him. A rope was 
put around his neck, and he was led to a large oak, 
on the very spot where the new road turns off, south 
of the Tavern bridge, when he begged as a last 
favor, to be allowed time to indulge in the luxury of 
smoking a pipe. It was granted, and before the 
pipe was finished a pardon opportunely arrived 
from Lord Cornwallis, who yielded to the entreaties 
of Theodore Gaillard, Mr. Cordes' brother-in-law, 
whose plantation was at the time the General's head- 
quarters. 

31. Curriboo was the residence of Thomas Cordes, 
son of Samuel. He married Rebecca Jamieson, and 
left two children : James, who married the daugh- 
ter of Jonathan Lucas, and went to live in England ; 
and Elizabeth, wife of the late Col. John Harleston. 

32. Upton was the residence of John Cordes, 
who married Miss Banberry and left two children : 
Catharine, wife of the late Dr. Philip Prioleau ; 
and William, who died unmarried. After the death 



52 REMINISCENCES OF 

of his wife, Mr. Cordes married Catharine Mazyck 
of Woodboo. He became the owner of Peru, and 
resided there until his death. 

'^l. Sandyhill was formerly the residence of Rene 
Richbourgh. He had two daughters : Elizabeth, 
wife of Thomas Palmer of Grave Hill, who left two 
children — Thomas, who died single ; and Marianne, 
wife of Thomas Gaillard of Alabama. Catharine, 
Mr. Richbourgh's second daughter, married O'Neal 
Gough Stevens. Their children were : Charles, who 
married Susan, daughter of Rene Ravenel of Poo- 
shee ; Catharine, wife of Dr. Henry Ravenel ; and 
Mary, wife of Isaac Porcher. Mr. O. G. Stevens, 
after his wife's death, married Anne Palmer, by 
whom he had two daughters : Anne Palmer, second 
wife of Samuel Dubose ; and Laura, wife of William 
Dubose. 

34. Next is the Parsonage, owned by the Epis- 
copal church of the parish, and formerly the resi- 
dence of the rector. It has long been without a 
house. 

35. East of the Parsonage was the residence of 
Zachariah Villepontoux. His wife was a Miss 
Baird. They left no family. 

36. The next place was the residence of Charles 
Cantey, Jn, who married Margaret Evance, by 
whom he had two daughters : Margaret, wife of 
Press M. Smith ; and Susan, wife of John Dubose. 
Mr. Cantey died in 1789, and his widow survived 



ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH. 53 

until 1848. She was for several years the " oldest 
inhabitant," and her age, her cordial manners, her 
attachment to her home and her friends, the kindly 
interest she took in the welfare of all within her 
reach, the unaffected simplicity of her manners, her: 
exhaustless fund of anecdotes of old times, and the 
sterling worth of her character endeared her to all 
who knew her, and caused her to be loved and 
respected in life, and unaffectedly lamented in death._^ 

She retained to the last the primitive habits of 
her youth. Breakfast at or before sunrise, dinner 
by half-past twelve, tea before sunset, and supper to 
crown the labors of the day. She celebrated her 
birthday, which v/as in July, by an old-fashioned tea- 
party, to which everybody in her village was invited ; 
and on those occasions no business short of absolute 
urgency would ever prevent any planter from making 
it a point to return home early, to be in time for 
Mrs. Cantey's tea. It was a pleasure to pay her 
such attentions, for she knew with what spirit they 
were offered, and the warmth of her heart caused 
her to magnify their importance. 

2iJ. The next plantation was the. homestead of 
Harriet, widow of Richard Walter, merchant of 
Charleston. She was the daug^hter of Charles 
Cantey of Mattesee, and her children were : Mary, 
wife of Peter Sinkler, Jr. ; Harriet, wife of Sims 
Lequeux ; Martha, wife of O. G. White, and after 
his death, of Samuel Dubose ; Sarah, wife of Ben- 



54 REMINISCENCES OF 

jamin Joor ; Richard, who married Ellen Ford ; 
and John, who married Magdalen Taylor. 

38. East of Mattesee Creek is Mattesee, the res- 
idence of Charles Cantey. His wife was a daughter 

iiof John Drake, and his son, Charles Cantey, married 
Maroraret Evance. His dauQ^hter Sarah married 
James Sinkler, brother of Peter Sinkler of Lifeland, 
and after her death her sister Margaret became his 
second wife. Mary married John Peyre ; Harriet 
married Richard Walter ; Anne married Rene 
Peyre, and after his death, Peter Sinkler of Life- 
land ; Charlotte married Benjamin Walker. Mat- 
tesee was afterwards the residence of Charles, only 
son of John Drake. He married Louisa Lequeux, 
and was the father of Mrs. Maria Snowden of 
Townhill. 

39. Next to Mattesee was Lequeux's, so called 
from the owner s name. I remember nothing about 
his family. 

40. Old Santee, the next plantation, was the res- 
idence of Captain James Sinkler. He married Miss 
Cahusac, and after her death Sarah, daughter of 
Charles Cantey, of Mattesee ; their daughter mar- 
ried J. B. Richardson. His third wife was Mar- 
garet Cantey, sister of his second. The issue of 
this marriage were : Charles, who married Eliza- 
beth Peyre, and died childless ; William, who mar- 
ried Eliza, daughter of Archibald Brown ; and 
Anna, wife of John Thomson, of Belleville. 



ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH. 55 

41. Betaw was the residence of Thomas Hasell 
Thomas. His wife was Anne, daughter of Thomas 
Walter, the botanist, and their children were : Dr. 
John Thomas, now of Fairfield, who married Harriet, 
daughter of Elias Couturier ; T. Walter Thomas, 
late of Abbeville, who married Elizabeth Kirk ; 
Edward, a minister of the Episcopal Church, whose 
wife was Jane, daughter of Judge Gaillard ; Hasell 
Thomas, who died unmarried ; Samuel Peyre 
Thomas, late of Fairfield, who married Jane Rose- 
borough ; Anna, the only daughter, died unmarried. 

42. Laurel Hill was the residence of John Peyre, 
who married Mary, daughter of Charles Cantey of 
Mattesee. No child survived their union. The place 
was sold to Captain Peter Gaillard of the Rocks. 

Mr. Peyre, like many of his neighbors and friends, 
was a neutral in the contest with the mother country 
until after the fall of Charleston, when the proclama- 
tion was issued, in violation of the capitulation, call- 
ing on the people to bear arms in support of the 
king. Mr. Peyre obeyed the call, and was one of a 
strong party of Tories who had assembled at Black 
Mingo in Williamsburg District. Marion deter- 
mined, with his usual activity, to break up this 
camp, and accordingly having left his post on the 
Peedee, he travelled forty miles in one day, attacked, 
defeated, and dispersed the party. Mr. Peyre and 
his brother Charles were taken prisoners. They 
were sent on foot to Philadelphia, and there kept 



56 FEMINISCENCES OF 

In close confinement for eighteen months, during 
which time Mr. Charles Peyre died. On being re- 
leased from captivity, Mr. Peyre found himself a 
stranger. In a strange place. In absolute want. A 
Quaker noticed him In the street, and, struck with 
something In his appearance, stopped and Inquired 
into his situation. On hearing his story he handed 
him a purse containing funds amply suf^clent to 
supply his wants and carry him home. Mr. Peyre 
gratefully and eagerly inquired who his benefactor 
was, so that he might requite his kindness ; but the 
Quaker would not satisfy him. '' Friend," said he, 
" I must not tell thee my name, and thou shalt 
never know me ; all I ask In return is this : when 
thou meetest a fellow-sufferer, do likewise, and give 
as thou hast received." Mr. Peyre, who had seen 
his brother die In the prison, found on his return to 
Carolina that his sister, Mrs. Walter, was dead and 
her husband already again a married man ; and the 
whole of his ample fortune was In the hands of a 
commission of sequestration under the authority of 
the State. With a few exceptions, the confiscated 
estates were generally restored to their owners. In 
this noble work of pacification none labored more 
zealously than General Marion. 

43. Cooper's, so called from the resident, Thomas 
Cooper. His wife was Jane Harvey. Their daugh- 
ter was the wife of David, son of Charles Gaillard. 
Their son Thomas died unmarried ; Maurice mar- 



ST, STEPHEN'S PARISH. 57 

ried Lydia, daughter of Samuel Lequex ; Charles 
married Louisa Whitfield ; James died unmarried. 

44. Webdo was the residence of Joseph Palmer. 
He had one dauo^hter who became the wife of Peter 
Sinkler, and whose daughter Catharine was the wife 
of Francis Peyre. 

Between Webdo and the parish line lived the 
families of Dutarque, Guerry, Bisseau, etc., all of 
Huguenot stock, but of whose intermarriages and 
descendants I am unable to give any account. 

The Fair Forrest Swamp is one of the principal 
feeders of the western branch of Cooper River, into 
which it flows through Watboo Creek. It rises in 
the bays within a few miles of Santee Swamp, and 
once afforded those who lived on its banks rice 
fields, which were precarious on account of their 
liability to freshets. Bordered on either side by 
a wide extent of pine forest, and in its whole 
length within a convenient distance of Watboo 
landing, the planters on this swamp had their 
attention early directed to the preparation of naval 
stores of all kinds, the prices of which were stimu- 
lated by the bounties paid by Great Britain for their 
exportation. The vicinity of this swamp therefore 
was the busy scene of this department of activity, 
and nowhere, perhaps, have labor and enterprise 
ever been so richly rewarded. 

45. Beginning at the head of the swamp, the first 
settlement was the residence of Benjamin Walker. 



58 REMINISCENCES OF 

His wife was Charlotte, daughter of Charles Cantey 
of Mattesee. Their daughter Ann married George 
Enelish of Clarendon. 

46. Tucker's, the next plantation, was the resi- 
dence of the father of Peter and James Sinkler ; 
after his death the family moved to Lifeland. As 
an instance of the facility with which property was 
accumulated at that time, it may be stated that on 
Mr. Sinkler s death his widow was left in possession 
of one male slave. When Peter Sinkler died, and 
he did not pass beyond the meridian of life, he left 
three plantations and several hundred negroes, be- 
sides the large amount of property of which he was 
plundered when taken prisoner by the British. His 
brother James was no less successful. 

47. Gravel Hill was the residence of John Palmer, 
a gentleman whose successful enterprise in the col- 
lection of naval stores has caused him to be remem- 
bered in our days by the distinguished appellation 
of Turpentine John Palmer. His wife was Mari- 
anne, daughter of John Gendron, whose father, an 
emigrant Huguenot, was one of the pillars of the 
Church at Jamestown. Their children were : Capt. 
John Palmer, of Richmond, who married Anne 
Cahusac ; Peter, who lived afterwards at Polebridge, 
and never married ; and Thomas, who lived at 
Gravel Hill and married Elizabeth Richbourgh ; 
after her death he married Amelia Jerman, and 
after her death, her sister, Harriet Jerman. 



ST. STEPHEN'S PARIS//. 59 

Age and the Infirmity of gout pre^^ented both 
Mr. John Palmer and his brother Joseph, of Webdo, 
from bearing arms during the revolutionary struggle. 
But the former had sons who were active Whigs, and 
the latter was known to be friendly to their cause. 
They were, therefore, made the victims of cruelty 
so wanton that it can hardly be credible that 
it proceeded from a civilized enemy. They were 
both seized and carried to Biggin Church, which 
was then a British post, and there inhumanly thrust 
Into the Colleton family vault, without even a 
blanket to protect them from the unwholesome 
damps of their gloomy prison. After they were 
liberated they were two days returning to Gravel 
Hill, about ten miles distant. Oppressed with pain, 
Infirmity, and anxiety, each brother occasionally 
carried the other on his back, when strength had 
failed and the urgency of advancing became or 
seemed apparent. 

48. East of Gravel Hill was Cooper's, so called 
from a former resident. The place was afterwards 
a part of the Gravel Hill tract. 

49. On Wiskinboo Swamp, a tributary of the 
Fair Forrest, was the residence of Mr. Edward 
Greenland, grandfather of William Cain, Esq. His 
daughter married Robert Cahusac, and was the 
mother of John, who married Eliza Williams ; of 
Anne, wife of John Couturier, the father of the 
late Dr. John Couturier of Pinevllle ; and of Susan, 



6o REMINISCENCES OF 

who married Col. Robert McKelvey. After Mr. 
Cahusac's death, his widow married Daniel Cain, 
by whom she had two sons, Daniel and William 
Cain. 

50. West of the swamp, and opposite Gravel Hill, 

was the residence of Boisseau, and afterwards 

of Mrs. Lehre. 

51. Spring Grove was the residence of Rene 
Peyre. He was twice married. Rene Peyre's first 
wife was Ann Cantey, sister of Mrs. John Peyre, 
who married Peter Sinkler aftervvards. His second 
wife, Hannah Simmons, was the mother of Francis 
Peyre, and of Anne, who married Thomas Ashby. 
Francis Peyre, who succeeded his father on this 
place, married Catharine, daughter of Peter Sinkler, 
of Lifeland. Their children were : Elizabeth, who 
married Charles Sinkler, and after his death, Thomas 
Ashby ; Anne, the wife of Stephen G. Deveaux ; 
Catharine, wife of Dr. Theodore Gaillard ; Florida, 
wife of Isaac M. D wight. Their son Francis mar- 
ried Mary, daughter of Col. Thomas Porcher of 
Ophir. After Mrs. Peyre's death, Mr. Peyre mar- 
ried Mary Peyre, daughter of Thomas Walter, the 
botanist. Their children were : Isabella, who mar- 
ried Dr. William Porcher ; Thomas Walter and 
Hannah Ashby, both of whom died unmarried. 

Thomas Walter Peyre succeeded his father as 
proprietor of Spring Grove, and resided on it for 
some years ; he afterwards removed to Brunswick, 



ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH. 6 1 

in St. John's, and spent his summers in PinopoHs in 
the same parish, where he died in 185 1. His vir- 
tues were celebrated in the sketch of Craven County, 
pubHshed in the Sotct/ier7i Quartci^ly Review, and I 
shall not dwell on them here. With him died the 
name of Peyre. The descendants of that once 
numerous and respected family exist only in the 
female line. His plantation is now owned by H. R. 
Banks, Esq., of Charleston. 

52. South of Spring Grove was the residence of 
Pierre Robert^ Esq., who never married. 

53. The last plantation to be named in St. 
Stephen's Parish is LeBois, formerly the residence 

of Pinckney, and afterwards of Peter Porcher, 

son of Philip, and father of Dr. Peter Porcher of 
Charleston. 

Besides the swamp lands, the margin of Biggin 
Swamp abounds in fertile land, and it was early 
taken possession of by a dense population, chiefly 
Huguenot, who cultivated indigo. These were 
principally the St. Juliens, Marions, Mazycks, Rave- 
nels, etc., and their descendants still retain the 
greater part of these valuable lands. It is said that 
the St. Julien family consisted once of nine brothers, 
only one of whom married. His two daughters 
married : the one, General Moultrie ; and the other, 
Daniel Ravenel of Somerton. This name, like that 
of Peyre, has perished, and the blood subsists only 
in the female line. 



62 REMINISCENCES OF 

A feature characteristic of this country, and one 
that deserves notice, is the family burying-grounds. 
After the erection of the St. Stephen's Church, the 
ground about it was the common cemetery, but 
many persons to this day continue to bury their 
dead in the old homestead, and chose to lie in 
death within the precincts of their ancestors' do- 
main, even though perhaps they may have been 
strangers to it in life. The graveyard was near the 
house, usually behind the garden. As a precaution 
against the depredation of wolves, a large hole was 
dug to the depth of about five feet ; a grave was 
then dug at the bottom of this hole, large enough to 
hold the coffin. After the coffin was deposited in 
this receptacle, it was covered with boards, and the 
whole then filled up. This practice continues to 
this day. I can hardly enumerate the several grave- 
yards. Those which have been latest used are : that 
at Belle Isle, for the Marions and their descendants ; 
at Mahams, for the descendants of Col. Maham ; 
at the Old Field, for the family of Philip Porcher ; 
at Gravel Hill, for the Palmers ; at Hanover in St. 
John's, for the descendants of the St. Juliens ; and 
those at Pooshee and Somerton, for the families of 
the Ravenels and Mazycks. It is not unlikely that 
there are graves on almost every old homestead in 
the country. 

Black Oak is the central point in a region inter- 
esting for various incidents connected with the revo- 



ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH. 63 

lution. These are too unimportant to have found 
a place in history ; but we are near Eutaw and 
Quinby ; we are on the highway that led from 
Charleston to nearly all the scenes where great 
deeds were performed ; the armies of both friend 
and foe camped near us, and marched near us, and 
the people who lived in those days had countless in- 
cidents to relate, all of which possessed a local or an 
individual interest, and I cannot but regret that 
their memory has perished. None of the witnesses 
of these scenes survive, or if any linger still, he has 
long passed the limit allotted by the Creator as the 
period of human life. Would it not have been well 
had our Legislature appointed commissioners whose 
duty it should have been to collect and preserve au- 
thentic anecdotes which could have been furnished 
by those witnesses ? The expense would have been 
trifling, and when once sustained would have been 
ever available in preserving from oblivion much 
of local interest, which would have been valu- 
able to posterity. We are in the midst of sa- 
cred territory ; about us armies were encamped, 
houses were burned, men imprisoned and brutally 
murdered ; but as these were merely incidents to 
more stirring and important events, they have 
escaped the notice of the historian, and we now 
tread the ground without a thought of the scenes 
that were enacted upon it. 

And not our own men only, but even our foes can 



64 REMINISCENCES OF 

furnish incidents both pleasant and painful to re- 
member. Not two miles from Black Oak, by the 
roadside is seen the grave of Major John Majori- 
banks. This officer was one of the most useful 
and efficient of the British army at Eutaw. Having 
under his command a flank battalion of infantry, 
posted on the creek, he rescued victory from our 
grasp when the day seemed fairly and completely 
ours. The heat and the fatigues of that day, and 
the unwholesome condition of the climate at that 
season, gave him a fever. The British army (after 
the worse than barren victory at Eutaw) was retreat- 
ing to Charleston, now become their only place of 
safety, and his comrades were forced to leave him at 
Wantoot. Here, in the hut of a slave, this hero, 
who but a fortnight before had saved the army of 
his sovereign, now spent with disease, deprived of 
all comforts, without hope and without sympathy, 
lay, dependent on the slave of one against whom he 
was waging a cruel war for all the assistance that 
his situation required ; and in this humble hut he 
sank, unwept and unknown, into the arms of death. 
His remains received more honor from the Ravenel 
family than from his comrades and associates. The 
grave was long distinguished from the woody wil- 
derness around it by a head-board, fashioned out of 
a cypress plank lying about the plantation, the re- 
mains of an indigo vat. This head-board with its 
inscription remained in its place until 1836, and 



ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH, 65 

everybody admired the durability of the stuff which 
had so long resisted the elements. In that year it 
fell, and its place was immediately supplied by a 
marble slab, erected by the sons of Daniel Ravenel, 
who had planted the cypress head-board. Majori- 
bank's fate was that of the soldier ; but yet, as we 
view his lonely grave, and remember his high char- 
acter and his unhappy end, we cannot but sigh at 
the extinction of bright and ambitious hopes, nor 
refuse our sympathies to the memory of a brave 
man, whose spirit was yielded, unsolaced by a 
mother's, a wife's, or a sister's ministering hand ; 
whose grave was moistened by no tear shed by any 
one who loved him. 

Some distance beyond the St. Stephen's line, and 
just below the Eutaw Spring, was another settle- 
ment, chiefly of Huguenot families, viz. : the Coutu- 
riers, Marions, Gignilliats, Chouvenaus, Gourdins, 
etc., besides others of English descent, the McKel- 
veys, Ervines, Olivers, Kirks, etc. All of these 
in the course of time were connected by intermar- 
riage. The land was well adapted to the growth of 
provisions and indigo, and in consequence of the 
fertility of the high lands they escaped the full 
measure of the calamities with which their neighbors 
of St. Stephen's were visited when the river became 
unsafe. The same picture of a prosperous and hap- 
py condition with which I have introduced this sketch, 
may be applied to this neighborhood also, and the 



66 REMINISCENCES OF 

happiness which is there described, continued to be 
the portion of the people, until in the course of the 
revolutionary war the British got possession of the 
State, and established their military posts over every 
portion of the country. Then the people became 
more clearly divided into Whigs and Tories ; and 
their misery was increased by the proclamation of 
the British commander, offering to all who would 
accept it, peace and protection ; and complete ex- 
emption from the obligation of taking up arms 
against their countrymen. 

Not only the Tories but even some of the most 
zealous Whigs accepted this delusive protection. 
With the exception of Marion and his handful of 
men, resistance had ceased to be entertained, and 
the State lay prostrate at the mercy of the conquer- 
ors.' Some of the most sao^acious Whiors refused 
to be deluded by the bait, and when a brief period 
of repose exposed the hoUowness of the protection, 
they again took up arms and abandoned the cultiva- 
tion of their lands except for necessary provisions. 
Their ingenuity was also taxed to conceal their 
slaves and secure them from the avaricious clutches 
of their foes. When peace was restored every planter 
was in debt ; no market crops had been made for 
years ; and where the river swamp was their sole 
dependence, even provisions had not been made. It 
was not a season therefore merely of embarrassment ; 

' See Note B., at the end. 



ST. STEPHEN 'S PARISH. 6/ 

ruin stared many in the face. Besides, with the ex- 
ception of rice the country had no staple crop ; for 
since the bounty, which as colonists they had enjoyed 
on the export of indigo and naval stores, had been 
discontinued, these products ceased to have any 
value, and negroes fell in price. Prime gangs were 
not unfrequently sold for less than two hundred dol- 
lars per head. 

I cannot better illustrate the total depreciation of 
value than by the following case : Milford planta- 
tion, consisting of one hundred acres of high land, 
and between three hundred and four hundred acres 
of swamp, had been purchased by Mr. Samuel Cordes 
for six thousand guineas sterling, and at the period 
of which I now write, was abandoned as worthless. 
To add to the other causes of distress, those whose 
property consisted in paper and securities were 
either not paid at all, or paid in valueless continental 
money. The people however had gained the great 
object of their years of toil, and they were sanguine 
respecting the future. Without relaxation of effort 
however poorly requited, they were sustained by 
the buoyant and elastic trait of the Huguenot char- 
acter ; they had seen hardships before, and did not 
sink under these. They strove to reduce their ex- 
penses to the lowest possible point ; they manufac- 
tured clothing for themselves and their slaves ; raised 
abundant supplies of poultry and stock of vari9us 
kinds, and with these contrived to live in plenty. The 



68 REMINISCENCES OF 

bitter feelings generated by the war gradually soft- 
ened down ; hostile families were reconciled, and the 
intermarriage of their children formed a bond of 
friendship. 

After nearly ten years of unrequited labor, the 
Santee Canal was projected, and constructed within 
their neighborhood. Every one availed himself to 
a greater or less extent of this opportunity of hiring 
their negroes ; for men they received thirty and for 
women twenty pounds sterling per annum, besides 
their food. At times a thousand laborers were em- 
ployed on this work, which was seven years in being 
completed. This enterprise, which was disastrous 
to those who had embarked in it, rescued a large 
number of planters from ruin. It was commenced 
in 1792, and finished in 1800. Two or three years 
after it had been commenced, a few planters in the 
neighborhood tried the cultivation of cotton on a 
small scale, but the progress of this enterprise was 
slow and irresolute, in consequence of the difficulty 
of preparing it for market. With the improvement 
of the gins, the cotton culture increased and was ex- 
tended, until 1 799, when Capt. James Sinkler planted 
three hundred acres at his plantation Belvidere, on 
Eutaw Creek, and reaped from each acre two hun- 
dred and sixteen pounds, which he sold for from fifty 
to seventy-five cents per pound. Since that period 
no other agricultural staple has stood in the way of 
its cultivation. 



ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH. 69 

Dancing is a recreation in which our people have 
always indulged. The sports of the turf were eagerly- 
enjoyed, and our fathers were fond of the most 
manly of all others, the ball alley. Before and some 
time after the war, there was an alley near the road 
by Blueford, which was attended by persons from 
every part of the State. General Sumter was often 
there, and he was unrivalled as a ball-player. Barbe- 
cues were favorite amusements, and always gave 
occasions for dancing. A certain number of families 
would by turn furnish these dinners at some con- 
venient spot affording water as well as shade. The 
attendance would be general, and after the pleasures 
of the turf-spread table were over, those who were 
inclined to dance would retire to the house of some 
individual near by, and the night, and not unfre- 
quently the following day, would be spent in dan- 
cing, the partners being engaged, not as now, for the 
half hour, but for the season. I can well remember 
the scenes of these barbecues, and the preparations 
for the dinner. The spots on which these festivals 
were held long continued to give unquestionable 
evidence of the scenes which had been enacted 
on them. 

I feel loath to leave untold a story I have often 
heard in my youth of two young men, Daniel 
McKelvey and his cousin Robert, better known as 
Col. McKelvey, and father of the late Colonel. 

A short distance below Eutaw Creek, on the 



70 REMINISCENCES OF 

river bank, was the residence of a widow lady, 
whose only companion was an orphan girl, and 
whose property consisted of a small tract of land 
and a few negroes. Her neighbors were not re- 
fimote, but the troubled state of the times and the 
difficulty of access to her dwelling in the swamp 
had, ever since the occupation of the country by the 
British, and the broad distinction now existing be- 
tween Whigs and Tories, cut her off almost entirely 
from society. The brutality of the British and 
Tories in sacking houses, carrying off cattle, abduct- 
ing slaves, insulting the defenceless, and sometimes 
burning the dwellings of those who were particu- 
larly obnoxious to them, was such as to prove that 
security was cheaply bought, even at the cost of the 
deprivation of society. A few, however, would oc- 
casionally seek the hospitality of her roof, among 
whom were the cousins McKelvey, who would fly 
from the toils and privations of the continental army 
to recruit in this garden of peace and of plenty. 
They were young men of fine talents, good con- 
nections, and easy fortunes. Robert was witty, hu- 
morous, and lively ; Daniel, sober, sensitive, and of 
bland and amiable manners. 

Seated in this retreat, at a table well spread in- 
deed, but which to the ill-fed partisans appeared a 
display of prodigality, they were startled by a terri- 
fied negro rushing in with the alarming information 
that the redcoats were approaching through the 



ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH. 7 1 

cornfield, and were then within fifty yards of the 
house. The two McKelveys sprang through the 
back window to the ground, and dashed with the 
speed of hope, goaded by the love of liberty and 
life, to the river in the rear of the yard. 

But nothing is swifter than the instrument of 
malice, or more circumspect than its foresight. 
Several muskets were fired in quick succession, and 
Daniel McKelvey fell. Robert continued his flight, 
reached the river bank unhurt by the volley of balls 
which flew about him, and plunged in. The chan- 
nel, which lay far beneath the bluff, bore upon the 
bank, and had worn in it a crescent-shaped excava- 
tion. The pursuers were almost instantly on the 
bluff. They were eight or ten English soldiers, 
conducted by some Tories, of whom the leader was 
one Raburn, who had been in the employment of 
one of the McKelveys as an overseer. Raburn 
knew that McKelvey could not swim ; and as he 
communicated this information to his comrades, 
they left him to his fate. They carried Daniel, who 
was mortally wounded, into the house, and there, 
regardless of the tears and entreaties of the widow 
and orphan, proceeded to plunder. After having 
finished his arrangements for taking off slaves, 
horses, cattle, and whatever provisions could be 
transported in the plantation carts, Raburn turned 
to McKelvey and said : '' I am going now% Daniel, 
and shall probably never see you again. Will you 



72 REMINISCENCES OF 

shake hands ? I have nothing against you, but that 
you are a d — d rebel." The victim was past speak- 
ing ; but he slowly placed his hand in that of his 
murderer, exhibiting in his last action the power of 
the Christian principle, and stamping with the seal 
of perfection a character which had always been 
lovely. 

It was past midnight, and the two unhappy wo- 
men were still hovering by the side of the dying 
McKelvey, when the door opened, and Robert 
McKelvey gently approached the mourning group. 
A glance of recognition brightened the eye of the 
sufferer, and was directly succeeded by the insensi- 
bility of death. When Robert McKelvey, who 
could not swim, had cast himself into the river, the 
current had borne him to the crescent-shaped exca- 
vation of the bank already mentioned ; and there a 
tree, whose foundation had been washed away, still 
floated, attached by a few roots to the earth. Get- 
ting under this tree, and clinging to it with his 
hands, its leaves and branches hid him from obser- 
vation ; and in this retreat he lay until in the silence 
of niorht he ventured to come out and witness the 
havoc which his ruthless enemies had made. 

Few of us are able to appreciate the sacrifices en- 
dured and the heroic resolution exhibited by our 
mothers of the revolution. True, the pen of the 
historian has often attempted to do them justice ; 
but only a few heroic and melodramatic acts can 



ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH. 



73 



find their way into the pages of history. No pen 
can adequately describe the anguish of mind con- 
stantly endured for the fate of husbands and sons, 
exposed not merely to the dangers of the tented 
field, but to all the horrors of a civil war, in which 
life was every moment in peril from every quarter. 
It would be an endless tale to recount the instances 
of barbarous rudeness which they experienced from 
a remorseless and an exasperated soldiery, whose 
discipline was purposely relaxed by the stern policy 
of our unrelenting foe. No one can adequately 
portray those heartrending troubles which afflicted 
the lonely and isolated mothers with their tender 
offspring to support, not secure that even the meal 
in actual preparation would appease their craving 
appetites, for even this was often the prey of the 
robber soldier. Even the aid of servants was un- 
certain ; for no one could foresee the moment when 
it would be necessary to conceal them from his 
avaricious grasp. All these trials were endured 
with fortitude which none but women can exhibit. 
Often in childhood have I hung upon a mother's 
lap and listened with astonished wonder to the 
recital of tales of misery like these. Information 
from the camp was seldom received, and was always 
uncertain. The ladies adopted a system of tele- 
graphing, by which it was extended as soon as it 
reached one of them. Flags were raised upon a 
pole, which by their shape and color indicated the 



74 REMINISCENCES OF 

character of the news as good or bad ; and as the 
houses were generally in sight one of the other, the 
news was quickly transmitted through the neigh- 
borhood. 

The culture of the indigo plant was the principal 
occupation of the planters ; and its manufacture, or 
the process of extracting the dye, involved much 
risk and demanded, during the whole period of the 
process (the '' making season " as it used to be 
called), not only skill, but unremitting attention. I 
can well remember how often, in the process of 
what was called '' beating," the liquor was taken up 
in a plate and anxiously examined in the rays of the 
sun, in order to ascertain whether all the particles 
of dye were separated ; for, if not, the result would 
be a failure ; the bright true-blue color would not 
be obtained, and the value of the drug would be im- 
paired. There were, as might be expected, many 
grades of professional reputation among the plant- 
ers. I have often heard it said that, during the 
manufacturing season, Mr. Peter Sinkler would be 
three weeks without seeing his wife, though he slept 
every night in his bed. He would come home late 
at night, when she was asleep, and would return to 
the scene of his professional labors before she awoke 
in the early morning. 

The process of culture and the manufacture, once 
so important to the people of this State, is now for- 
gotten ; even Drayton, whose '' View of Carolina " 



ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH. 75 

was published in 1802, did not think it worth the 
labor of description. As I saw the process habitu- 
ally when a boy, and continued long to associate 
with those who were engaged in its culture, I shall 
briefly describe the whole process from the planting 
of the seed to its departure from the plantation. 

The land was well cleared, drained, and thor- 
oughly broken up and pulverized ; after all appre- 
hension of frost was over, the fields were laid off in 
drills about an inch deep, and from twelve to fifteen 
inches apart from each other. In these drills the 
seeds, mixed with lime and ashes, were sown. If 
the season was a fair one, the seeds came up within 
ten days or a fortnight, and grew off rapidly. The 
plants were cut three or four times in the season, 
for making the dye ; and during all this period they 
required nice and frequently repeated hoeing and 
weeding. When they had grown to the height of 
two or three feet, the plants were cut with a reaping 
hook, and carried to the macerating vat. This vat 
was strongly constructed of thick cypress planks, 
raised some height above the ground. When this 
vat, which was called the ''steeper," was furnished 
with a sufficient quantity of weed, clear water was 
poured into it, and the weeds were left to steep or 
macerate until all the coloring matter was extracted 
from them ; the fluid was then drawn off by means 
of a faucet into an adjoining vat called the '' beater." 
An axle to which were attached arms long enough 



'je REMINISCENCES OF 

nearly to reach the opposite sides of the vat, and 
each furnished with a small bucket at its end, ran 
lengthwise through the centre of this vat. Laborers 
would then place themselves upon this vat, and work 
the axle with handles or cranks, so as to cause the 
buckets to rise and fall alternately in the liquor. 
This process was continued until the coloring mat- 
ter was united in a body. This operation required 
great nicety, for if the beating was not continued 
long enough, a part of the tingeing matter remained 
dissolved in the liquor ; if continued too long, a 
part of that which had separated is dissolved afresh. 
Lime was then applied, which assisted in the separa- 
tion of the water from the indigo. The whole 
being now suffered to rest until the blue matter had 
settled, the clear water was drawn off by cocks in 
the sides at different heights, and the blue part dis- 
charged by a cock in the bottom into another vat. 
It was then strained through cloth bags, and spread 
out in shallow vessels called " bowls," to harden and 
dry. When the substance had acquired sufficient 
consistency, it was cut into cakes or lumps, each 
weighing about one quarter of a pound. While 
packing the indigo for market, these lumps were 
brushed to make them as bright as possible. They 
were generally packed in bags or boxes. 

Few planters attempted to cultivate more than 
four acres of indigo to the hand. The great enemy 
of the growing crop was the grasshopper, which 



ST. STEPHEN 'S PARISH. J J 

would sometimes destroy the crop in a few days. 
The best remedy against this enemy was chick- 
ens. I recollect that my father was in the habit 
every year of sending into the swamp fields several 
hundred chickens ; movable coops were furnished 
for their accommodation at night, but no food ; nor 
did they require any so long as the grasshopper in- 
fested the fields. Those who could not use chickens 
suffered the margins of their fields to grow up in 
grass ; the grasshoppers, driven from the fields with 
whipping brushes, would alight in the grass, which 
was then fired in several places at once. The price 
of indigo varied at from a dollar to two dollars and 
a half per pound. Few planters ever realized more 
than one hundred and twenty dollars to the hand. 
The bounty allowed by the British government was 
sixpence sterling per pound. 

The culture of indigo and its manufacture is said 
to be attended in the West Indies and in other 
parts of the world with diseases, violent, severe, 
and at times fatal. If this was ever the case in 
South Carolina my memory furnishes me with no 
instances of it. I have every reason to believe the 
contrary, having known instances of indigo planters 
who were by no means successful planters, who never- 
theless acquired fortunes by the natural increase of 
their negroes. 

Before the revolution Monck's Corner was a 
place of some commercial importance. There were 



78 REMINISCENCES OF 

three or four well-kept taverns, and five or six excel- 
lent stores. These were generally branches of larger 
establishments in Charleston, and as they sold goods 
at Charleston prices they commanded a fair busi- 
ness. The usual practice of the Santee planter was 
to take his crop to Monck's Corner, sell it there, re- 
ceiving cash or goods in exchange, dine, and return 
home in the afternoon. 

After indigo had become a valueless drug the 
planters turned their attention to the culture of 
rice, and brought into cultivation every branch and 
inland swamp which could produce it. After it was 
harvested It was prepared for the market by the 
slow and laborious process of beating by the hand. 
This was done with a pestle in mortars holding 
each three pecks of rough rice. This was an ex- 
tra task, performed on some plantations before day- 
light, on others after nightfall. In the course of 
time those who had water-power constructed rice 
mills ; others used a machine with from four to six 
pestles. This was generally worked by oxen and 
was called the " pecker machine." 

In my boyhood there was not a four-wheeled car- 
riage owned in that part of Santee which I have 
been describing, with the exception of a heavy and 
unsightly vehicle, something like a baggage wagon, 
owned by General Marion. It was called a caravan 
and was drawn by four horses, ridden by postilions. 
The vehicle in common use was the chair. It was 



ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH. 



79 



Strongly built, wide, and roomy ; three persons 
could be comfortable on the seat, and several chil- 
dren could sit on small benches in the bottom. 
Some years afterwards a few persons used a light- 
er description of carriage called coaches ; these were 
very much like a modern carriage cut in two. They 
had a seat in the back ; in front was the dicky seat. 
When four horses were used, as was frequently the 
case, the leaders were managed by a postilion 
mounted on the near horse. About the year 1800 
carriages became more common. Without being 
more commodious than those now in use, they 
were very costly and heavy. Every panel had a 
glass and Venetian blinds; they generally cost a 
thousand dollars, and required to be drawn by four 
horses. 

Few horses were then furnished from the West. 
The planters generally raised as many as they want- 
ed. In the inventory of the property of Peter Sink- 
ler destroyed by the British, mentioned in another 
part of this paper, are more than forty brood 
animals. 

Until the establishment of manufactories in this 
country all articles of furniture, clothing, etc., were 
dear. A good hat cost from ten to twelve dollars ; 
a pair of boots from twelve to fifteen dollars ; a dress 
coat from forty to sixty dollars ; and other articles 
in proportion. Our mothers had to pay five or six 
shillings a yard for stuff not neater, nor prettier, nor 



8o REMINISCENCES OF 

perhaps not superior to that which may now be had 
everywhere for one eighth of a dollar. 

Before the revolution and some time afterwards 
the people of St. Stephen's enjoyed a greater share 
of health than they have since experienced. A few 
facts will establish this. Whilst this portion of the 
State was held by the British, military posts were 
established at Fairlawn, Monck's Corner, Lifeland, 
and other places, some on the very edge of the 
swamp, and others on spots which have subse- 
quently been found to be equally unhealthful. 
The garrisons of these posts, consisting of Eng- 
lish, Scotch, Irish, and German troops, all enjoyed 
a reasonable degree of health. Three or four weeks 
before the battle of Eutaw, three regiments of Irish 
troops, just landed in Charleston, were marched into 
the country and were engaged in that battle. These 
facts are derived not from our fathers alone, who 
knew the truth, but from Dr. Jackson, author of the 
'' Diseases of Tropical Climates," who was in that 
army. It was then a common practice with some fam- 
ilies in Charleston to choose the fruit season, /. e., 
July and August, to visit their friends on the river, 
and spend weeks there without any apprehension of 
danger. Nay, I have been assured by those who 
have been actors in these scenes, that parties would 
come up from Charleston in midsummer to enjoy 
bream and trout fishing on the Santee. They would, 
after an early breakfast, be on the river or lake by 



ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH. 8 1 

sunrise, dine in the swamp on the fish they had 
caught, and spend the rest of the day in hunting 
deer. These hunting and fishing froHcs would last 
about a week, and no consequences injurious to 
health followed. 

After the year 1 790, when freshets in the river 
became more frequent, the climate became more 
sickly. The residents along the swamp suffered 
severely from agues and fever, and it was observed 
with surprise, and it still remains a mystery, that 
overseers and negroes and others who lived entirely 
in the swamp enjoyed more health than those who 
lived on the uplands. Capt. James Sinkler, who 
was a sagacious observer, was led from his observa- 
tions to believe that a pine-land residence, even but 
a short distance from the swamp, would secure its 
occupants from fever. Acting on this notion, he 
built a house for himself in the pine land, and in 
June, 1793, retreated to it with a family, blacks and 
whites included, of more than twenty persons. In 
November, he returned to his plantation, having 
passed the summer in the enjoyment of uninter- 
rupted health. This experiment was immediately 
imitated. PIneville was first settled in 1794, by 
Capt. John Palmer, Peter Gaillard, John Cordes, 
Philip Porcher, Samuel Porcher, and Peter Porcher. 
The liability to fevers, which was a bar to the en- 
joyment of happiness, being thus happily prevented, a 
suffering people quickly became contented and happy. 



82 REMINISCENCES OF 

No circumstance has contributed more to the 
welfare of the low country than the discovery of a 
region in which the planters could enjoy health and 
at the same time be near their plantations. It has, 
in fact, prevented the depopulation of the country. 
Other advantages followed ; numbers being col- 
lected together in one village, they were enabled to 
establish a church, a school, a library, a market, 
besides the countless little comforts which are within 
the reach only of numbers. The country still re- 
mained under the supervision of the proprietors ; a 
vigilant police was established. These villages are 
fortresses where they are most useful, and secure 
to their owners a well-governed and therefore an 
obedient, well-ordered, and happy body of slaves. 

When the war broke out, the churches in these 
parishes were closed, and nearly all the clergy re- 
signed and left the State. They were generally 
royalists and Englishmen, and a portion of their 
salaries was paid by the '' Society in London for 
the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts." 
During the war, many of the beautiful houses which 
had been erected for the worship of God were used 
by the British as store-houses, sometimes even as 
stables, and several, when they were forced to aban- 
don the country, were ruthlessly set fire to and 
burned down. On the return of peace, the religious 
sentiment of the people was found to have suffered 
sadly in consequence of the long deprivation of 



ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH. 83 

habitual public religious worship. A rigid morality 
took the place of the religion of the gospel, and 
many believed that morality was religion. The 
churches which had not been destroyed were subse- 
quently reopened, and their pulpits supplied by min- 
ister^ from England. But these persons were too 
vpften utterly unfit for their sacred office, some of 
them positively wanting even the habit of a decent 
morality. The people were disgusted with them, 
and the churches were again closed. 

It is difficult to estimate the injury done to the 
cause of religion by these unworthy ministers. It 
may give you some idea of the state of destitution 
of this prosperous district, when I tell you that in 
1 786 I was baptized by a minister who lived more 
than fifty miles off, and whose presence among us was 
accidental, and that I never again saw a minister 
until I was twelve years of age, and of course had 
never entered a house of worship. The church was 
not permanently reopened in St. Stephen's Parish 
until 181 2. 

During this barren and mournful period, there 
lived in the midst of us a man of God. He was poor 
in the wealth of the world ; but in love, in faith in 
his Redeemer, and in the works which characterize 
a true disciple, he stood in the front rank of all the 
men it has ever been my fortune to know. He was 
a remembrancer to those about him of the reality 
of God's existence, as the proper object of our af- 



84 REMINISCENCES OF 

fection and our worship. Often when a boy have I 
seen him on a Httle pony riding through our planta- 
tion on his way to church in Christ Church Parish, 
forty miles distant ; and when I heard him reply to 
my father, who asked him the object of his journey, 
that there was to be sacrament in Mr. McCauley's 
church, I could scarcely take my eyes from him ; not 
because I admired his zeal or his fidelity, but because 
I thought he must be a fool. Mr. McCauley was a 
Presbyterian and a man of some note in his day. 



In my frequent rambles amid these now deserted 
plantations, I often stop to gaze on the ruins which 
present themselves to my view. I feel lost in pain- 
ful wonder at the utter desolation of these places : 
not a living soul is there ; not a living thing that I 
can see. Not a sigh, not a whisper, not a sound of 
life comes from these ruins. The silence of death is 
everywhere. Not even the wail of a bird of prey 
reaches me throuo^h these shattered walls. There 
is nothing but ruin everywhere. Not a bird of 
good or evil omen sits upon these fragments. Not 
a wild beast haunts these ruins. All is still, and 
silent, and lifeless. I sit upon a fallen tree or a heap 
of broken bricks, and look with a saddened heart 
upon this scene of desolation ; and I wonder what 
has become of all who once lived here — the good, 



ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH. 85 

the wicked, the beautiful, the gay. How lived they ; 
how died they ? Are all their deeds buried with them ? 
and is nothing left but the brief record of others? 
Was happiness within these walls ? Did those who 
dwelt within them feel as we do, who now look upon 
these ruins ? Did they too look back upon the past 
and forward to the future, and then turn to dust at 
last, feed the worms of the earth, and nourish the 
weeds that cover it ? Are these masses of ruins all 
that they have left to bear witness of their lives ? 
In the graveyard, the resting-place of the dead, there 
is only the gloom of death. Silence is becoming 
there ; it is what we naturally expect. But here, in 
the abiding-place of men, where was once the din of 
busy life, we have now the silence of death, and more 
than its gloom. For these walls were meant for the 
living, but now no living soul dwells within them. 

Samuel Dubose. 



HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH 

OF 

Craven County, South Carolina. 

By Frederick A. Porcher, Esq. 



[From the April, 1852, No. of Southern Quarterly Review.^ 



87 



HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH. 



This brochtire from the Charleston press ' consti- 
tutes a sufficient text for us, while we seek to report 
the domestic and social history, from the earliest 
known periods of the region of country in which the 
scene is laid. Our beginning is fairly made by Old- 
mixon in his '' Carolina." '' We come now," saith 
this old chronicler, '' to South Carolina, which is 
parted from North by Zantee River. The adja- 
cent county is called Craven County ; it is pretty 
well inhabited by English and French ; of the latter 
there is a settlement on Zantee River, and they were 
very instrumental in the irregular election of the 
Unsteady Assembly. . . . This county sends 
ten members to the Assembly." This is all from 
him, but it is enough. ''The Unsteady Assembly" 
is, itself, a text. We shall expatiate on what he has 
so briefly said, and to add to the extent of the history, 
if we do not greatly increase its value. Our work 
is not that of the review exactly ; but there is noth- 

' " The Golden Christmas : a Chronicle of St. John's Berkeley." Compiled 
from the Notes of a Briefless Barrister. By the author of " The Yemassec," 
" Guy Rivers," " Katharine Walton," etc. Charleston : Walker, Richards, 
&Co., 1852. 

89 



go HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

ing misplaced in subjecting countries to the same 
treatment which we bestow on books. It is as an 
old resident that we give our regards to Craven 
County in South Carolina. 

Local attachments are strongest among the In- 
habitants of the country. Those especially whose 
youth has been nurtured among mountains, are 
bound by a chain stronger than adamant to the 
homes of their infancy. The denizen of a crowded 
metropolis is vain-glorious, perhaps proud, of his 
city, but he has no love for it. He forms a very in- 
significant atom in the vast mass of humanity which 
surrounds him, and he easily transfers his affection 
to whatsoever portion of the w^orld may contain his 
household gods. Not so with the rural citizen or 
the Inhabitant of a village. No throng of uninter- 
ested spectators ever torments him with a conscious- 
ness of his own littleness. He feels that he is a man 
of note ; that he holds a conspicuous and an import- 
ant place in society ; he can calculate the political 
value of his life. He doubts whether his existence 
is not necessary to the well-being of the world ; and 
he rewards, with the devotion of his whole heart, the 
spot which confers such Importance upon him. 

It has been remarked, in many localities, that the 
youth who had grown up amid them, however far 
they may have roamed In quest of fortune, invariably 
return to close their days within reach of the scenes 
hallowed by their early associations. It is said that 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 91 

every sweep who ascends the chimneys of Paris, has 
constantly in his mind the picture of some cherished 
nook in the Savoy Alps, the hope of returning to 
which, as its owner, gives him courage to toil and 
fortitude to save the rewards of his labors. Think 
not, as you view the uninteresting faces of these 
apparently hapless children of poverty, that all is 
dark and desolate within their bosoms. They are 
animated with a hope which many a more fortunate- 
looking man might envy. Their hearts retain viv- 
idly the impressions of happiness once enjoyed, and 
beat with exultation as each hour of toil brightens 
the prospect of resuming it. What to them are the 
tall and gloomy chimneys of the gay metropolis? 
They are the portals through which they approach 
their Alpine farms. But alas ! well has the old 
French romancer sung : 

" Oh ne le quittez pas ; c'est moi qui vous le dis 
Le devant de la porte ou Ton jouait jadis ; 
L'eglise oti tout enfant, d'une voix douce et claire, 
Vous chantiez a la messe aupres de votre mere ; 
Et la petite ecole, 011 trainant chaque pas, 
Vous alliez le matin — oh ne la quittez pas." 

He who would be happy amid the scenes of his 
infancy must so live as to preserve the freshness of 
that age. Time and absence efface nearly all that 
was hallowed to the youthful mind, and too fre- 
quently the success of the young adventurer, instead 
of leading him to the realization of his happiness, 



92 HISTORICAL AXD SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

only awakens him from the enjoyment of a deHcious 
day-dream. 

Next to mountains, the forest possesses an irre- 
sistible charm for the imagination. Its sublime 
loneliness is relieved by the endless changes which 
the seasons, in their order, bring forth, and each, in 
its turn, affects the mind of the beholder. There is 
an indescribable charm in a northern forest when 
the earth is covered with snow, and the bare trees 
stand as if mourning over the desolation v/hich has 
overtaken them. But the sweetest sensations are 
those excited by the pine forests of our southern 
soil. Here nature dies not, but only takes her rest. 
Her trees, which give character to the scene, are 
always verdant, but their verdure has none of the 
witchery of a more genial season. The tall and 
branchless monarchs of the forest rear their heads 
aloft to meet the rays of the sun, and as they catch 
the chilling blast which salutes them, utter a low and 
melancholy murmur of complaint as they bow before 
the mysterious breeze. Nor is the prospect enliv- 
ened by the sight of animal life. The solitary wood- 
pecker mingles no melody with the tapping of his 
bill as he industriously pursues his food. The 
hoarse croaking of the crow is in perfect harmony 
with the scene. The gray squirrel regards, partly 
with astonishment, partly with alarm, the disturber 
of his quiet home. The whole scene is the abode 
of solitude, but not that which depresses the heart. 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 93 

" To sit on rocks, to muse o'er flood and fell, 
To slowly trace the forest's shady scene, 
Where things that own not man's dominion dwell, 
And mortal foot hath ne'er or rarely been ; 
To climb the trackless mountain all unseen, 
With the wild flocks that never need a fold ; 
Alone o'er steeps and foaming falls to lean. 
This is not solitude ; 't is but to hold 
Converse with nature's charms, and view her charms unroll'd." 

That portion of Craven County which hes south 
of Santee River is marked by this species of solitary 
grandeur, heightened, however, by an association 
with former animation. He who travels in winter 
from the bank of the Santee Canal towards the 
east will find himself in an almost uninterrupted 
forest of pines. On his left lie the mysterious 
depths of the Santee Swamp, whose soil, once teem- 
ing with the rewards of industry, is now abandoned 
to the hand of nature ; before and around him the 
tall pines, with their melancholy moan, spread them- 
selves in an apparently impenetrable mass. Here 
and there a broad and well-worn avenue leading 
from the wood, or a stately time-honored mansion, 
seen in the distance, heightens the sense of solitari- 
ness by suggesting ideas of society. As you pro- 
ceed, you find yourself in the streets of a village ; 
but the houses are built with a special reference to 
the preservation of the trees ; and the closed doors 
and windows of these dwellings, their chimneys, 
from which issues no hospitable smoke, recall vividly 



94 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

to the imagination the idea of a city of the dead. 
But the neat church, with its modest belfry, suggests 
the idea of a Christian life ; while, on clearing the 
skirts of the village, a well-beaten track, with all the 
appointments of a race-course, indicates that this 
eminently southern sport has its votaries. The road 
now leaves all vestiges of life, but it is good, and 
there is a something about it, its firm and well- 
beaten track nearly overgrown with turf, contrasting 
curiously with the neglected ditches which define its 
limits on either side, that mysteriously recalls the 
notion of ancient grandeur. Now it crosses one of 
the great highways to the metropolis ; and now ap- 
pears a low wooden building, containing one apart- 
ment, with a table extending nearly its whole length, 
and benches on either side. This is the club-house, 
where the citizens meet from time to time for 
the unrestrained enjoyment of social and convivial 
intercourse. At every step as you proceed you find 
traces of former industry. Large circular tumuli 
abound, bearing on their surface trees of venerable 
age, which have grown up since the mounds w^ere 
formed in the process of making tar. And now, 
too, you see the trunks of trees, with their barks 
neatly and carefully stripped to a great height, pre- 
senting to a lively imagination the appearance of an 
innumerable assemblage of tombstones. These are 
the marks of the turpentine gatherers, and this dis- 
play of the presence of recent. activity heightens the 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 95 

impression of the solitude which actually surrounds 
you. 

While the mind is thus carried from one depth of 
loneliness to another, a dull object appears indis- 
tinctly before you ; as you approach, its form grad- 
ually reveals itself, and soon the old parish church 
of St. Stephen stands before you — a handsome 
brick edifice. It stands at the head of one road 
which comes from the south, and is so situated that 
it may be seen at a considerable distance by those 
who approach it, either from the east or the west, 
by the main or river road. The church tells a story 
of former grandeur and of present desolation ; 
though not large, it indicates a respectable congre- 
gation ; it is finished with neatness, with some pre- 
tensions even to elegance, and the beholder in- 
voluntarily mourns over the ruin to which it is 
doomed.' All around it are graves ; these seem 
to be literally running into the woods ; some are 
marked by stones, which record the virtues of those 
whose remains now form part of the soil ; some, set 
apart for families, are enclosed by walls of brick or 
of perishable timber, and many are protected from 
the ravages of obtrusive cattle by logs rudely piled 

' Since this has been written, the public spirit of some of the citizens of 
Pineville and its vicinity has repaired the church, and divine service is 
occasionally performed there. It is, however, doomed to ruin. Situated 
beyond the convenient reach of the people, it is maintained only by a feel- 
ing of reverence for the past. It is not hazarding much to predict that this 
will not suffice to preserve it for any considerable period. 



96 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

around the humble mound which covers the de- 
ceased. Of the monuments to the dead, some are 
in perfect harmony with the church ; the stones 
have fallen from their places, and the eye with 
difficulty deciphers the names of those who have 
long ceased to be numbered among the inhabitants 
of earth. Others have all the brightness which 
indicates that they have just left the hands of the 
sculptor, and here and there a melancholy mound is 
seen, whose freshness shows that time has not yet 
allowed this last memorial to be offered to departed 
worth. Here, then, lie the dead of Craven County 
— here lie those whose taste planned, and whose 
energy reared, this elegant temple ; and here, too, 
lie those who but yesterday gazed like us upon this 
strange scene, and experienced the same emotions 
which now overpower our minds. Here, all Is past. 
To them the present is an impossibility. The father 
and the son, the old and the young, the long for- 
gotten, and the recently loved, all lie here together 
in one common past, and link it strangely and fear- 
fully with the future ! 

Before such a scene what vague and undefined 
thoughts flit across the mind ! If you stand on the 
north side of the church and look through the open 
doors (and they are never closed), you see a road 
coming from the south, whose well-beaten track the 
eye can distinguish until the sense of sight is over- 
powered by the distance. On the right and on the 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 97 

left the same dull, unbroken line of road is seen — 
their well-defined track is all. that breaks the mo- 
notony of the forest ; and they, perhaps, even add to 
its impressiveness by opening a vista through which 
its extent may be more sensibly felt. Strange and 
mysterious traces of life and of civilization ! To 
what end do they appear to have been constructed ? 
In this perfect solitude, whence do they come ? 
Whither do they lead ? Strange, that in this spot 
they should unite ! that they all lead to the grave ! 
that one of them must have been the last over 
which these innumerable slumberers must have 
been respectively borne ! 

That portion of Craven County which lies south 
of the Santee River comprises the parishes of St. 
James, Santee, and St. Stephen. Its extent to the 
north of the Santee appears never to have been de- 
fined. Near the line which now divides these two 
parishes stood the village of Jamestown, remarkable 
as being one of the principal settlements of the 
French Huguenots. In 1704 the Church of Eng- 
land was, by act of Assembly, established in South 
Carolina, and two years afterwards the French of 
this town were, on their own petition, erected into a 
parish and indulged with a ritual in their own lan- 
guage. The whole of that long and narrow tract of 
land, which extends from the canal into the sea 
(about fifty miles), and lies between the river and 
those parishes which constituted Berkeley County, 



98 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

was known as Santee Parish, which, as it became 
settled, was distinguished into EngHsh and French 
Santee, from the character of its inhabitants ; the 
former occupying the part since built by the de- 
scendants of the latter, and known as St. Stephen's 
Parish. The French emiorrants were attracted to 
three principal points out of Charleston ; these 
were : the head-waters of Ashley River, Wassamas- 
saw ; that large feeder of Cooper River, known as 
French Quarter Creek ; and Jamestown. 

Lawson, who visited the Santee in 1 700, found 
about fifty French families settled on its banks ; 
but he does not appear to have known of the exist- 
ence of Jamestown. These Frenchmen, he says, 
generally follow a trade with the Indians, for which 
they are conveniently situated. His brief notice of 
these people proves that they made a very favorable 
impression upon him. In one passage he says : 

" Meeting with several creeks, the French, whom we met 
coming from their church, were very officious in assisting with 
their small dories to pass over these waters ; they were all 
clean and decent in their apparel, their houses and plantations 
suitable in neatness and contrivance. They are all of the same 
opinion with the church of Geneva, there being no difference 
among them concerning the punctilios of their Christian faith ; 
which union hath propagated a happy and delightful concord 
in all other matters throughout the whole neighborhood ; 
living amongst themselves as one tribe or kindred, every one 
making it his business to be assistant to the wants of his 
countrymen, preserving his estate and reputation with the same 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 99 

exactness and concern as he does his own ; all seeming to 
share in the misfortunes, and rejoice in the advance and rise 
of their brethren." 

Of these Frenchmen, who were destined to affect 
so powerfully the social condition of lower Carolina, 
it were to be wished that our traveller had given 
some particulars in addition to the above. He 
mentions having stopped at four houses : those of 
Mr. Huger, the ancestor of the numerous family of 
that name ; of Mr. Gaillard, sen., and Mr. Gaillard, 
jr., and of Mr. Gendron. 

The name of this last gentleman is extinct, but 
his blood flows in the veins of a numerous posterity. 
We, long ago, found a copy of his will, by which it 
appears that he had a son and five daughters. These 
married, respectively, Mr. Cordes, Mr. Porcher, 
Mr. Huger, and Mr. Prioleau. To each of them 
he bequeaths a sum of money and some articles of 
housekeeping, particularly feather-beds. To a fifth 
daughter, who was yet unmarried (qui reste a 
marier) he leaves a double portion. Tradition has 
married her to a Mr. Douxsaint, without posterity. 
His son, John, was his residuary legatee ; and to 
him he leaves his coopers' tools, his slaves, both 
negroes and Indians, and, among other enumerated 
articles, his swivels or cannons. Why a private 
citizen should be in possession of swivels is not 
very easily explained. It has been suggested that 
about the year 1 704, when the colony was at war 



lOO HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

with the authorities at St. Augustine, the danger of 
a piratical Spanish invasion might have induced all 
the substantial citizens on the rivers to provide 
themselves with these arms. The first page of 
Mr. Gendron's will is the confession of faith of a 
humble and grateful Christian ; and his attachment 
to his church is exhibited by a moderate legacy to 
the churches of Jamestown and Charleston, which, 
he says, '' they shall continue to enjoy so long as 
they are reformed as they are at present." 

This respectable emigrant has not obtained a 
name in history, but the traditions of Craven County 
still preserve it in connection with a little incident 
which, in the hands of Sterne, might have served 
as the groundwork of an immortal work. Business 
having carried Mr. Gendron to Charleston, his 
absence was so long and so unaccountably pro- 
tracted that his friends supposed him to have been 
lost. On Sunday, while assembled at their house 
of worship in Jamestown, the preacher from his 
pulpit saw approaching up the river the canoe of 
his long-lost friend. Forgetting, in his joy, the 
sermon which he had prepared, with the exclama- 
tion, *' Voila, Mr. Gendron !" he announced his safe 
arrival, and rushed out, followed by the delighted 
congregation, to welcome him whom they had 
mourned as dead. 

Mr. John Gendron, the son of this gentleman, is 
mentioned by Capt. Palmer, in the Appendix to 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. loi 

Ramsay's South Carolina, as the commander of a 
company of Charleston militia in the war against 
the Yemassees in 1715. Though never holding a 
commission higher than that of a colonel, yet, from 
being a very long time the senior colonel in the 
province, he was, by courtesy, invested with the 
title and dignity of a brigadier. His daughter mar- 
ried Mr. John Palmer, the father of the author of 
the article just referred to, and with him the name 
became extinct in South Carolina. 

The French emigrants to this province appear to 
have been governed by a principle of common-sense 
which reflects infinite credit on their character. 
They regarded Carolina as their home. Having 
placed themselves under the protection of the Brit- 
ish crown, they resolved to conduct themselves like 
faithful subjects. Hence no attempt was made to 
perpetuate the remembrance of a distinct nation- 
ality. Their children were not encouraged to speak 
French ; and the great charity which they founded 
bears the name, not of a sect, nor of a foreign na- 
tion, but the catholic name of that colony which 
they had adopted as their native land.' Still, how- 
ever, in their domestic life traces of their origin 
may be discovered. The pillau is a common dish 
upon their tables, and I believe that in every 
Huguenot house on Santee that cake which the 

' The South Carolina Society ; which arose from the Two-Bit Club, A. 
D. 1737. 



102 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

English know as the waffle is called the gauffre. 
In summer the superfluous fresh beef is ^Xa^ jerked 
for keeping, and potted beef and venison still con- 
tinue to delight the senses of the people with their 
grateful savor. We are uncertain whether the 
general preference of coffee over tea is the result of 
an hereditary national taste, or whether it originated 
in the superior cheapness of the former article. 
Names still preserve their old pronunciations in 
that region, and in spite of the refinements and im- 
provements of modern society, the Duboses and 
Marions are pertinaciously called Debusk and 
Mahrion. 

Of the public life of those worthy emigrants who 
found a home on the banks of the Santee, few, if 
any, traces are to be found in our histories. 
The English portion of the population appear to 
have viewed them with feelings of hostilit) . In the 
disturbances which occurred during the turbulent 
administration of Gov. Moor, they are represented 
as having yielded too readily to the wishes of the 
constituted authorities, and to have aided materially 
in returning to the Assembly members who were 
disposed to second and forward the ambitious views 
of the governor. During the administration of Sir 
Nathaniel Johnston, who succeeded Gov. Moor, Mr. 
John Ash was sent by the English Dissenters to 
plead their cause against the usurpation of the High 
Church party. In his representation of the affairs 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 103 

of the colony, he says : '' That at the election for 
Berkley and Craven counties the violence of Mr. 
Moor's time, and all other illegal practices, were 
with more violence repeated, and openly avowed by 
the present governor and his friends : Jews, stran- 
gers, sailors, servants, negroes, and almost every 
Frenchman in Craven and Berkley counties came 
down to elect, and their votes were taken, and the 
persons by them voted for were returned by the 
sheriffs." At this time It appears that Charleston 
was the only place in the colony at which polls were 
opened, and here it was necessary for citizens from 
every county to come, In order to enjoy the elective 
franchise.' The Assembly they elected established 

* Such appears to have been the custom. Mr. F. Yonge, in his account 
of the revolutionary proceedings in 1719, declares it to have been so. The 
subject, however, is not very clear. In the first place, it would have been 
difficult, in a town devoted to the dissenting interest, for the concourse of 
voters from Colleton and Craven counties to create such disturbances as 
Oldmixon describes ; and, secondly, the act of Assembly of 1804, for better 
ordering elections, clearly intimates, though it does not direct, that a poll 
should be opened in each county. It provides — ist. That no votes be 
taken by proxy ; 2d. That if the sheriffs neglect to hold a poll in a county, 
the people may vote in the adjoining one ; and 3d. That the polls shall be 
held in an open and public place. But those counties had not at that time 
any court-house, and Mr. Yonge declares that the whole House of Assembly 
was chosen in Charleston until the administration of Gov. Daniel (1718), 
when it was enacted that every parish shall send a certain number of dele- 
gates (36 in all), who shall be balloted for at their respective churches, or 
other convenient place, by virtue of writs directed to the church-wardens, 
who were to make a return of the persons elected. It was the veto upon 
this act by Gov. Johnson, at the suggestion of Mr. Rhett and Chief-Justic?fe 
Trott, which was one of the leading causes of the revolution of 1719, which 
shook off the Proprietary government. 



I04 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

the Church of England in the colony, but with such 
provisions that the Bishop of London and the 
Society for Propagating the Gospel in America re- 
solved not to send or support any missionaries in 
the province until the act, or the clause relating to 
the establishment of lay commissioners, should be 
annulled. 

Oldmixon says that the law was declared null and 
void by Queen Anne, at the suggestion of the 
House of Lords ; but, as the act still remains on 
the statute-book, and the church continued from 
that date (1704) to receive the aid of the state, as 
well as of the Society for Propagating the Gospel, 
it is more likely that the offensive clauses were ren- 
dered inoperative, without being formally annulled. 
The act of conformity was passed by a vote of 
twelve members against eleven dissentients. A full 
house numbered thirty members, so that this act was 
passed by little more than a third of the whole 
house. Every Dissenter was thereupon turned out 
of his seat, and his place supplied by the person, 
being a Churchman, who had the most votes next to 
him. In six months afterwards, the same Assem- 
bly, in a full house, passed a bill to repeal the act, 
but it was rejected in the upper house, and the gov- 
ernor, in great indignation, dissolved the Commons' 
house, by the name of the Unsteady Assembly. 

During this period of the colonial existence, the 
only part of Craven County which was settled was 



CRAV'EX COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 105 

that portion now known as St. James' Santee, and 
soon afterwards, called French Santee, to distinguish 
It from what was afterwards St. Stephen's Parish, 
or, as It v/as formerly called, English Santee. The 
legal separation of the two parishes was effected in 
1 754, and the brick church, which we have noticed 
in the early part of this essay, was commenced In 
1762. 

It has not been the lot of this section of the 
country to produce many persons whose names have 
filled a niche in the temple of fame. The virtues 
of Its citizens have been of a character more domes- 
tic than those which generally receive the chaplet of 
Immortality. Engaged in the quiet and all-absorb- 
ing pursuits of agriculture, they cared not to stir In 
the bustling world of politics, and as a proof of the 
contented spirit of the people it may be remarked 
that in the war of the revolution a laro-e number ad- 
hered to the king. 

Agriculture and Indian trade were the occu- 
pations of the early French settlers. The latter 
source of profit was extinguished by the gradual 
settlement of the country ; the former continued to 
give wealth to its votaries. The French, from the 
quarter of Wassamassaw, gradually left their seats 
and settled on the fertile bank of the Santee, and by 
the commencement of the revolution, English San- 
tee, or St. Stephen, had passed almost entirely into 
their hands. 



Io6 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

Among the French, an individual, whose name 
has not transpired, adopted a pursuit which many 
will suppose characteristic. '' A French dancing- 
master," says Oldmixon, '' settling in Craven County, 
taught the Indians country dances, to play on the 
flute and the hautboy, and got a good estate, for it 
seems the barbarians encouraged him with the same 
extravagance as we do the dancers, singers, and fid- 
dlers of his countrymen." 

One citizen of this parish has earned for himself 
a name in the world of letters, and it is strange that 
Ramsay, who appears to have sought eagerly after 
Carolinian celebrities, should have entirely ignored 
his existence. Thomas Walter, an English gentle- 
man whose devotion to the cause of science led him 
to the wilds of Carolina, was attracted by the 
charms of Miss Peyre, of St. Stephen, married her, 
and settled there. He devoted himself particularly 
to the pursuit of botany, and the curious are still 
occasionally rewarded by a visit to his garden, the 
ruins of which may still be seen near the banks of 
the Santee Canal. He is the ancestor of one 
branch of the Porcher family, and of the Charlton 
family of Georgia. His book, the " Flora Carolini- 
ana, which was printed in London in 1 789, is dated 
ad Ripas Fluvii Santee. 

Walter was married a short time before the battle 
of Black Mingo. Among the loyalist officers who 
were defeated on that occasion was Mr. John Peyre, 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. lO/ 

the brother of Mrs. Waken Marion's patience had 
been sorely tried by the pertinacity with which these 
gentlemen maintained the conflict, and for this 
reason, and perhaps as a sort of retaliatory measure, 
for the unjustifiable deportation of the Charleston 
prisoners to St. Augustine, he vowed a terrible re- 
venge against any who might hereafter fall into his 
hands. It was Mr. Peyre's fate to be captured and 
to experience this revenge. He was allowed none 
of the privileges awarded to prisoners of war, but 
was sent to Philadelphia for safe keeping, and there, 
for several months, dragged out a miserable exist- 
ence in a loathsome dungeon ; when at length 
released, he was unceremoniously turned into the 
street, almost naked and altogether miserable. In 
his distress he accosted a Quaker in the street, 
whose benevolent face attracted him. The Quaker 
heard his story, and taking fifty dollars from his 
pocket, gave them to him, advising him to procure 
decent clothing and go home. Mr. Peyre earnestly 
entreated that he might learn the name of his gen- 
erous benefactor, in order that, when in his power, 
he might discharge the obligation, but the old man 
refused. '' Consider this money," said he, *' as a 
loan, and you will sufficiently discharge it by giving 
to any one whom you shall find in circumstances of 
similar distress." 

The name of Peyre, once an honored and a 
flourishing name in this parish, is now extinct. 



I08 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

The last who bore it was Thomas Walter Peyre, 
grandson of the botanist, a gentleman whom none 
knew but to love, honor, and esteem. Modest and 
retiring, even to a fault, he was, in all other respects, 
a perfect model of a useful country gentleman. 
His home was the abode of religion, order, skill, 
economy, and enlightened liberality. His friends 
were devoted, and the rectitude of his principles 
and the general amiability of his conduct gained 
him the good-will and respect of all. His death has 
caused a chasm in his circle which will not be filled 
whilst the freshly turned turf continues to announce 
the recentness of his decease ; and as he never 
married, the name of Peyre was buried in his grave. 

Though the body of Marion reposes in a grave in 
St. Stephen's Parish, Craven County cannot number 
him amonof her notabilities. Both Georo^etown and 
St. John's Berkeley claim the honor of his birth. The 
latter was, unquestionably, the place of his residence. 

But the widow of General Marion certainly did 
live and die in St. Stephen's Parish ; and there also 
lived a large number of his friends, relations, and 
companions in arms. There, especially, was his 
memory revered ; and there, to this day, you will hear 
but one opinion expressed respecting the merits of 
Weems' life of Marion — that of unmitigated disgust. 

We have not the smallest disposition to detract 
from the merit of General Marion. We have a 
child's recollection of his widow ; we never knew 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. IC9 

her but as my grandmamma, for so she insisted upon 
being called by every child ; and we have been 
taught to believe, as an article of religion, that her 
husband was vilely treated by his reverend biogra- 
pher. We have seen this book circulating in every 
part of the United States, and were always ready, to 
the expressions of admiration with which its perusal 
is everywhere else greeted, to reply, with the scorn- 
ful sneer of superior knowledge, that Marion's 
friends rejected the book as a libel on his fair fame. 
The indignation with which the book was received 
is hardly yet appeased. The offended widow loudly 
declared that she would willingly, if in her power, 
punish the transgressor with stripes ; and numerous 
friends sympathized with her outraged feelings. 
But now that nearly fifty years have passed, what is 
the true estimate to be placed upon the book ? 
Next to Washington, what general of revolutionary 
memory has so wide a fame ? From the Hudson 
to the extremity of the Far West, from Florida to 
the Falls of St. Anthony, his name is perpetuated in 
towns, counties, and colleges. And what is the 
cause of this unusual popularity ? Surely not the 
brief notices of his exploits in any general history 
of the war. Surely not the extensive circulation 
of his biography biy Judge James.' No ; it is the 

' We do not mention Simms' Biography, because that, having been exe- 
cuted within a few years, has had, and could have had, no influence in pro- 
ducing this effect. 



no HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

irresistible influence of Weems' book — a work 
whose popularity daily increases, and which is des- 
tined to transmit to posterity, in colors ever bright- 
ening, the memory of the active and clever leader 
of the undaunted Whigs of Carolina. Peaceful be 
the repose of the venerable lady and her generous 
allies ; they owe to their supposed calumniator a 
debt of gratitude. For so long as Marion's name 
shall be honored, prosperity will reverence the vir- 
tuous lady who blessed him with her love. 

It is well known that General Marion never had 
a child. With that instinctive desire of living in 
posterity which clings to us and becomes more ur- 
gent as we advance towards the termination of our 
career, he adopted a nephew who assumed his 
name. But, by a singular fatality, this gentleman, 
who was twice married, and had eleven daughters, 
never had the happiness to see a son. Two young 
men, great-nephews of the General, are all who are 
left to perpetuate this ancient Huguenot name. It 
is to be hoped that they will be mindful of the 
sacred duty committed to them, and faithfully dis- 
charge it. 

The most eminent military character which the 
revolution produced, in this parish, was Col. Heze- 
kiah Maham. Like the respected names of Gen- 
dron and Peyre, this, too, has become extinct. 
Maham was a colonel of cavalry in the revolution- 
ary war, and was distinguished not only for his 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. Ill 

gallantry, but also for a certain skill in the art of 
reducing fortified places. It was at his suggestion 
that the expedient was first adopted (similar, by the 
way, to the method practised in the middle ages) of 
constructing against such places a tower of logs so 
high as to command them. This was first practised 
at Fort Watson, and the description of Weems, 
which I give, is all that can be wished. '' Finding 
that the fort mounted no artillery, Marion resolved 
to make his approaches in a way that should 
give his riflemen a fair chance against the mus- 
queteers. For this purpose large quantities of pine 
logs were cut, and, as soon as dark came on, were 
carried in perfect silence within point-blank shot of 
the fort, and run up in the shape of large pens or 
chimney stacks considerably higher than the enemy's 
parapets. Great, no doubt, was the consternation 
of the garrison next morning, to see themselves 
thus suddenly overlooked by this strange kind of 
steeple, pouring down upon them from its blazing 
tops incessant showers of rifle bullets. . . . Our 
riflemen lying above them, and firing through loop- 
holes, were seldom hurt ; while the British, obliged 
every time they fired, to show their heads, were 
frequently killed." Weems, who does not once 
mention Maham's name in his book, ascribes the 
invention solely to Marion. Lee, on the contrary, 
gives Maham credit both for the design and the 
execution ; and he frequently, afterwards, speaks of 



112 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

the Maham tower, as an efficient and decisive 
means of reducing the simple forts of the interior. 

Not the least evil attendant upon civil war is, 
that notions of right and wrong become so con- 
founded in our minds, that we are more disposed 
to reconcile morality with practice, than practise 
morality. They who see acts of aggression and 
violence practised with applause, are apt to forget 
that they are commendable only under the severe 
law of necessity, and that under other circumstances 
they are rightly considered as crimes. Men, whose 
opinions are entitled to respect, have not hesitated 
to ascribe the public crimes, which not long since 
afflicted England, to the violences which the cir- 
cumstances of civil war justified or excused ; so that 
many a marauder and highwayman only continued 
as a crime that course of life which he had been en- 
couraged to commence as a duty. 

These consecutive evils of civil war were felt in 
Carolina. After the revolution, the highways were 
unsafe. Many now living recollect that persons 
rarely ventured to travel the Goose Creek road 
without arms ; and the public execution of a man 
and his wife, in Charleston, for highway robbery, as 
late as 1820, bear fearful testimony to the insecurity 
of life and property, even in the neighborhood of 
the metropolis. 

Besides highway robbery, horse-stealing was a 
common crime. Many engaged In it ; but two in- 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. II3 

divlduals, by name Roberts and Brown, organized 
it and conducted it as a matter of business. One, 
or both, of these men was hanged in Charleston, 
in 1789. They had their agents and depots ar- 
ran-^ed and organized ; and from the Santee to the 
wilds of Florida, they and their confederates were 
at once the nuisance and the terror of the country. 
Mr. Thomas Palmer lived on his plantation on 
Fair Forest Swamp. Like other planters of the 
times, he possessed a large and valuable collection 
of horses, one of which, called Fantail, was an 
especial favorite. Early one morning he discovered 
that his stables had been opened in the night, and 
his best horses stolen. The alarm was quickly 
spread, and in a few hours a party of gentlemen set 
off, under the lead of Col. Maham, in pursuit of the 
stolen property. It was difficult to track the fugi- 
tives, but as suspicion naturally rested on Roberts 
and his gang, they directed their course towards 
Orangeburg, which was one of his head-quarters. 
After" travelling a few miles, they met Mr. Rene 
Ravenel, who, being informed of the object of their 
search, informed them that, having been out early 
that morning, he had seen a horse, about a quarter 
of a mile off, crossing the road ; that a momentary 
glance at the hinder part of the animal, which was 
all that he saw, convinced him that it was Mr. 
Palmer's horse. The circumstance would have 
passed from his memory but for this meeting. He 



114 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

conducted the party to the spot ; numerous tracks 
were found, and the party, now confirmed in their 
suspicions, continued with renewed alacrity, deter- 
mined to make a certain house in Dean Swamp the 
first object of their visit. 

A short time before nightfall they approached 
the house, and determined to remain concealed until 
the night should be well advanced. A horse was 
heard to neigh ; several answered, and Mr. Palmer, 
turning to Col. Maham, said : '' Uncle Maham, I '11 
pledge my life that that is the voice of Fantail." 
A countryman happening to pass was detained as a 
prisoner. He acknowledged that he was bound to 
the house which the party intended to visit, and ac- 
quainted them that a large gathering of men and 
women was expected there that night for a frolic. 
With this information they were sure of their game ; 
and, having divided themselves into a convenient 
number of parties, they separated, appointing to 
approach the house on a certain signal, which would 
be given by Col. Maham. Every thing succeeded. 
When the noise within indicated that the frolic 
was going on fast and furious, the signal was given ; 
the parties simultaneously entered the house, and 
the marauders found themselves suddenly affronted 
by armed guests, whose presence boded them no 
good. They fled. The women, on the contrary, 
fought boldly ; and Col. Maham declared that if 
they had been seconded by their gallants the pursu- 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. II5 

Ing party would have been defeated. Aided by the 
courageous defence of the ladies, most of the ma- 
rauders escaped ; the captured were summarily dis- 
posed of ; each was tied to a tree and flogged. The 
party then, recovering their stolen horses, returned 
homewards, leaving their prisoners, each at his tree, 
to be relieved when their friends should have suffi- 
cient couraofe to 2:0 to their assistance. 

Whatever may have been Col. Maham's reputa- 
tion as a soldier, it appears that he had rather crude 
notions of the duties of a citizen. He became in- 
debted, and his creditor was importunate. Recourse 
was had to legal process, and a sheriff's officer pro- 
ceeded to serve him with a writ. 

One morning, just as the colonel was about to 
sit down to his breakfast, a stranger was announced. 
He went out to give him a hospitable greeting, and 
was instantly served with a writ. The old Whig 
surveyed the document with feelings of astonish- 
ment and indignation. That he, who had perilled 
his life and fortune in defence of his country's liber- 
ties, should be thus bearded in his own castle, and 
threatened with the loss of his own, was a thought 
not to be borne, and he instantly determined to 
make the unfortunate instrument of his creditor the 
victim. He returned the parchment to the officer 
with an order (and the colonel never gave a vain 
order) that he should instantly swallow it, and when 
the dry meal was fairly engulphed, he brought the 



Il6 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

man into' the house and gave him good liquor to 
wash it down. 

But the colonel discovered, like too many others 
who had borne the burden and heat of the day, that 
the civil power was in the ascendant, and that writs 
are not to be served up as a morning's meal. He 
fled the country, and remained an exile until the 
difficulty was removed by the intervention of his 
friends. He died as he had lived, on his plantation 
on Santee Swamp, and was buried there. His 
house was destroyed by fire many years since ; but 
we remember to have seen its chimneys standing. 
Within a few years a massive marble monument, 
visible from the road, has been erected over his 
grave by his descendant, Lieut. Gov. Ward. 

Until the year 1794, the citizens of this parish, 
like those of every other part of the State, lived 
always on their plantations throughout the year. 
Some of the more wealthy had town residences to 
which they resorted, partly for health, but chiefly 
for the convenience of educating their children. 

The period between the close of the war and 
1 794 was full of disaster to the agriculturist. The 
bounty on indigo, which, under the fostering care 
of Great Britain, had rendered that plant the staple 
of South Carolina, having been of course with- 
drawn, indigo became thenceforth an unprofitable 
culture. The Santee Swamp, which appeared at 
one time to be an inexhaustible source of wealth, 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 11/ 

had become, from the frequency, the greatness, and 
the irregularity of the freshets in the river, ex- 
tremely precarious ; and many a planter, the amount 
of whose possessions would have ranked him among 
the wealthy, saw in his wealth only an increase of 
expense, and felt all the privations of poverty. In 
the year 1794 cotton was first cultivated in St. John's 
Parish by General Moultrie, and, in two years after, 
it became the staple of the country. 

It had been observed that those persons who 
lived in the pine lands were usually exempt from 
those distressing autumnal intermittent fevers, which 
are the bane of our country, and several gentlemen 
determined to avail themselves of this fact for the 
purpose of improving the social condition of the 
country. Accordingly, in 1794, Capt. John Palmer, 
Capt. Peter Gaillard, Mr. John Cordes, Mr. Samuel 
Porcher, Mr. Peter Porcher, and Mr. Philip Por- 
cher, built for themselves houses in the pine land, 
near to each other, and thus laid the foundation of 
Pineville, the oldest settlement of the kind in the 
southern country. The experiment proved success- 
ful, and in a few years it became the summer resi- 
dence of the planters of St. Stephen's Parish, and 
of those of upper and middle St. John's. 

Pineville is situated on a low-, fiat ridge, thickly 
covered with pines, and dotted with small ponds and 
savannahs. It lies two miles south of Santee 
Swamp, and five miles from the river. Though the 



Il8 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

principal growth is pine, it is not what we call a 
pine barren ; for the red oak and the hickory, which 
flourish on a soil under which the clay lies at no 
great depth, indicate a considerable degree of nat- 
ural fertility. On the south, about a quarter of a 
mile from the nearest house, meanders the Crawl 
branch, a swampy stream which a few miles below 
feeds the Santee by the name of the Horsepen 
Creek ; at the same distance to the north is Mar- 
gate Swamp, a huckleberry bay, without any decided 
water-course, which protrudes from the Santee 
Swamp. At the period of its greatest prosperity the 
village contained about sixty substantial and well- 
built houses, each situated in a lot of from one to 
two acres in area. The pine trees were religiously 
preserved, not only within the lots, but without. 
Those which were uninclosed, being the property 
of the public, were protected by a fine of five dollars 
imposed on any person who should cut down or by 
any wanton injury threaten the life of a tree. 

An opinion generally prevails that the village lost 
its healthfulness in consequence of the violation of 
these regulations by the people, who cut down 
their trees and cultivated gardens. Never was 
opinion more erroneous. In all of the original lots, 
traces of cultivation may be seen. It was not then 
considered dangerous to indulge in the luxury of a 
garden. Farms, too, appeared in close neighbor- 
hood to the village. On the west, Greenfield farm 



CRAVEN- COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. II9 

might be seen from the village. Clark's farm lay 
between it and the Crawl ; and to the southwest, 
the Polebridge farm of Mr. Thos. Palmer, could be 
seen from our father's house. But In 1834 all this 
had been long changed. Not a garden cheered the 
eye of a resident ; and the corporation of the Pine- 
ville Academy had purchased all these farms, and 
abandoned them to the possession of the pines, for 
the purpose of Insuring the healthfulness of the 
place. 

Health, the primary object for which Pineville 
was settled, being attained, the other objects soon 
followed, of course. In 1805 a grammar-school 
was established and chartered under the name of 
the Pineville Academy, and commenced a prosper- 
ous career under the administration of Mr. Alpheus 
Baker, a native of New Hampshire. Mr. Baker's 
reputation attracted students from various parts of 
the country, and his administration was, ever after- 
wards, regarded as a standard by which the merit 
of any of his successors was to be judged. He was 
followed, successively, by Mr. Lowry, Mr. Snowden, 
and Mr. Stephens, all of South Carolina ; Mr. Gor- 
don, of Maine, Mr. Gillet of Vermont, Messrs. 
Cain, Daniel, and Furman, of South Carolina ; 
Messrs. Fisk, Houghton, Gere, and Leland, of 
Massachusetts. On the death of the last-named 
gentleman, in 1836, of the prevailing epidemic, all 
confidence in the healthfulness of the village being 



I20 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

lost, the exercises of the school were, for several 
years, SLispended. 

Besides these gentlemen here named, others were 
occasionally employed as assistants, whenever the 
number of scholars justified the expenditure ; and, 
until the breaking up of the village, in 1836, the state 
of the school generally warranted the employment 
of an assistant. The principal teacher was elected by 
the Board of Trustees for one year. He was provid- 
ed with a house, received a salary of a thousand dol- 
lars, and was required to receive a certain number 
of boarders at a fixed rate. These boarders were for 
the winter months only, as their parents were gener- 
ally in the village in the summer. It would, per- 
haps, be invidious to notice more particularly any 
of these gentlemen. I shall make one exception. 
Mr. Yorick Sterne Gordon appeared before the 
trustees with credentials from the highest authority 
in New England. A letter from the venerable 
Jedediah Morse secured his election. He went to 
Pineville with a large collection of school-books, all 
of which he introduced into the academy, and on 
his first appearance in the school-room spoke so 
threateningly to the boys, that such an impression 
was made on their minds, that he never had occa- 
sion to resort to punishment. He exacted lessons 
from the boys of inordinate length, and many a tear 
have we shed when bedtime found us with our task 
not more than half accomplished. Never did 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 121 

man so completely subdue the spirits of a set of 
boys. And yet, out of school, he was sociable, and 
appeared disposed to promote their little pleasures ; 
but still he was uncertain, and had we been more 
conversant with the world, we should have called 
him capricious. At a certain hour every day he 
was in the habit of retiring from the school-house to 
his dwelling, where he would spend a short time ; 
on his return he was observed never to follow the 
beaten path, but to approach the school-house by 
zig-zag lines ; and, to our simple apprehensions, 
this strange conduct was supposed to be directed 
with a view of keeping the window of the school- 
house always in sight, so that he could watch the 
boys even when he was not present. How long this 
fascination might have lasted I cannot say ; for in less 
than three months after his installation, the spring 
holidays, for a fortnight, commenced, and, before 
they were over, Mr. Gordon was dead. He died of 
delirium tremens, and his assistant declared that he 
had not been sober a single day since his arrival. 

The people of Pineville, would never become a 
corporate body. All administrative powers were, 
therefore, assumed by the Board of Trustees. 
Those being overseers of a school, they gradually 
became the council of a town, thus happily illustrat- 
ing the insidious progress of usurpation. They ac- 
quired, either by gift or purchase, all the unoccupied 
lands, and as owners of the soil, made such whole- 



122 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

some regulations as circumstances appeared to 
demand. 

In addition to the school, a public library was or- 
ganized. This, we believe, was originated by the 
public spirit of Mr. Robert Marion, formerly a 
member of Congress from the Charleston district. 
The first house used for the purpose had been a 
chapel of ease to the parish church, about two miles 
to the west of the villaofe. After the erection of 
the church in Pineville, this chapel became useless, 
and it was taken down and rebuilt in Pineville. A 
partition wall divided it Into two rooms, whereof the 
inner one was set apart for the reception of books, 
and the outer, being a sort of ante-chamber, was 
used on public occasions as a town hall. In this 
room the patriots usually celebrated the Fourth of 
July, and on that day the walls, which had formerly 
reechoed only to the sound of anthems and holy 
songs, were made to resound with the noise of rev- 
elry and uproarious patriotism. In 1826 a new 
library building was erected, and the old one, being 
sold at public auction, was purchased by a person 
who used the materials for the construction of a 
livery stable. As it is fashionable to call all libra- 
ries select, we suppose we must apply the epithet to 
this one also. But as we cannot find any catalogue 
of books which exceeds a thousand volumes, we 
are constrained to add that it does not appear to re- 
flect much credit on the literary enterprise of the 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA, 1 23 

citizens. With the destruction of Pineville that of 
the Hbrary followed. The books were either lost or 
destroyed, and we doubt whether the shelves now 
contain a single volume. 

The citizens of Pineville being all planters, long 
residents in the country, and for the most part de- 
scendants of the Huguenots of Santee Parish, were 
almost, as a matter of course, attached to the Epis- 
copal Church. For several years after the founda- 
tion of the village, divine service continued to be 
performed in the parish church. But the course of 
events changed completely the condition of the 
parish, and by the year 1808 the church was, as It 
were, left in the wilderness, and the service discon- 
tinued. For a short period Mr. Baker officiated, 
every Sunday, as lay reader in the chapel, near the 
village, and it was then determined to enjoy the 
advantages of religious worship at home. A neat 
wooden church was accordingly erected in the vil- 
lage, and placed under the rectorship of the Rev. 
C. B. Snowden. Chapels for winter service, by the 
same rector, were soon afterwards erected in St. 
John's Berkeley, at Black Oak, and the Rocks, so 
that, though there were three different places of 
worship, the congregation was considered but one. 

The erection of the two chapels in St. John's 
Berkeley gave rise to a lawsuit of a singular charac- 
ter, which completely destroyed the social relations 
existing between the upper and lower portions of 



124 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

that parish ; but as this is foreign to the history of 
Craven County, we shall not notice it here. 

After a service of about ten years Mr. Snowden 
retired from the rectorship of the church, and was 
succeeded by the Rev. D. J. Campbell, who died at 
his post in 1840. The churches were then vacant 
for nearly three years, until, in 1842, they were filled 
by the present worthy and efficient rector, Mr. W. 
Dehon, who is assisted by the Rev. C. P. Gadsden.' 

In the olden time a sermon was preached every 
Sunday morning. In the afternoon the congrega- 
tion re-assembled, and evening prayers were read. 
No sermon followed ; none was expected ; I may 
add, none was desired. 

In most country churches there is some difficulty 
about singing. Many, who can sing, shrink from 
the notoriety of assuming the functions of chorister, 
and very often the office is discharged by one who 
has no merit beyond his zeal to recommend his per- 
formance. This difficulty was generally experienced 
in Pineville, and the whole service was frequently 
performed without music. Old Capt. Palmer, the 
patriarch of the village, certainly possessed no mu- 
sical talents, but he had zeal, and fancied that he 
could accomplish the hundredth psalm. This was, 
accordingly, the standing psalm of the morning ; 
and the old chorister, taking courage from his suc- 
cess, would, at times, boldly undertake other pieces 

' Mr. Gadsden is now Assistant Rector of St, Philip's Church, Charleston. 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. I 25 

of music. Now It is always the fate of a country 
chorister to be the object of envy. They who wit- 
ness his success are apt to fancy they can do equally 
well. It so happens, therefore, that the chorister is 
liable to perpetual attacks, and if he is not very 
prompt, will find the song taken out of his mouth 
by these pretenders. So hath it ever been. So 
was it with Capt Palmer. Others attempted to 
take the lead, but the indignant musician was not to 
be driven from his post. Sing he would ; and it 
was not uncommon for a whole stanza to be sung 
at the same time to two different tunes. In the end, 
however, all competition ceased, and the old gentle- 
man reigned undisputed Director of Music' It 
cannot be denied that, for a considerable period, our 
prophecy had a literal fulfilment in Pinevllle, for the 
songs of the temple were bowlings. One incident 
occurred there lately, of so ludicrous a character 
that I cannot help narrating it, though it may ap- 
pear inconsistent with the dignity of history. The 
rector was in feeble health ; he had given out a 

^ This difficulty appears, by an old tradition, to have been unfelt by our 
ancestors. Their zeal was frequently too ardent, and the delicate ear of 
the parson was in danger of being overpowered by strong and discordant 
voices. Mr. Richcbourg, the pastor of Jamestown, whose attachment to 
Mr. Gendron was so nawely exhibited, as described in our notice of James- 
town, was not blinded by his friendship into any indiscreet admiration of 
his voice. Thus, after announcing the hymn, he would say : " Don't sing, 
Mr. Gendron ; your voice is like a goat's ; you be quiet. Mr. Guerry, 
your voice is sweet ; you may sing." I presume Capt. Palmer inherited both 
the voice and the zeal of his great ancestor. 



126 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

hymn to be sung before the sermon, and retired to 
the vestry-room to make the usual change of his 
vestments. The worthy chorister, v/ho from his 
place could see indistinctly into the vestry-room, 
fancied that he saw the rector in a recumbent posi- 
tion, and imagined that, fatigued with the morning 
service, he was taking repose. Determined, there- 
fore, to allow him ample time to rest himself, he had 
no sooner finished the hymn than he recommenced 
it, and sang it over again, to the astonishment of 
the whole congregation, as well as of the rector, 
who had entered the pulpit unperceived by his wor- 
thy friend, and was quietly waiting for the music to 
cease in order to begin his sermon. 

About the year 1822 or 1823, a peripatetic sing- 
ing-master visited Pineville, and, partly for the pur- 
pose of improvement in psalmody, partly to vary 
the general monotony of village life, the young peo- 
ple formed a class, which he instructed every alter- 
nate Saturday. 

All professional singing-masters have something 
odd about them. Their vocation is to teach sacred 
music, and whether it is that they are laboring to 
reconcile their manners with the supposed dignity 
of their employment, or whether it is owing to 
something in the very nature of the calling which 
makes the profession ridiculous, we cannot deter- 
mine. Certain it is, however, that from the time of 
David Gamut (who, by the way, was not created 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 12/ 

when our singing-master flourished), down to the 
itinerant professor of Tinkum, the professor of the 
science of psalmody has ever been the butt of ridi- 
cule. Burbidge, the Pineville professor, was no ex- 
ception, but owing to the habitual gravity of his 
scholars he experienced less, perhaps, than most 
others have done elsewhere. Who he was, or 
whence he came, we could never learn. Regu- 
larly, on every alternate Saturday, he was at his 
post in the church, instructed his class, and after 
partaking of the hospitality of a friendly bachelor, 
who most irreverently made game of him, he ap- 
peared at church next day and comforted the heart 
of the good rector by discharging, ex cathedra, the 
office of chorister. This done, he disappeared, and 
no more was heard of him for a fortniorht. He was 
a brownish man, about the middle size, with jet 
black, curly, or ratherish kinky hair, very knock- 
k7ieed, and his skin-tight nankeen trousers scarcely 
reaching below the calf, displayed this perfection of 
his figure to the greatest advantage. At that time 
psalmody was always taught by means of what was 
called solmization, or a systematic arrangement of 
the syllables, sol^ la, mi, fa, by which a tune was 
sung in all of its parts without any reference to the 
words ; and the great point for the learner to ascer- 
tain, in order to accomplish this, was to determine 
the place of mi. Now we have no doubt all this 
was no more intelligible to Burbidge than it is to 



128 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

the greater part of our readers. To supply the de- 
ficiency of ignorant teachers, books were printed, in 
which- these mystic syllables are indicated by the 
shape of the notes ; but these, of course, would 
never be employed by a really competent teacher. 
This book, however, Burbidge used. His class was 
arranged in three divisions, forming three sides of a 
square ; on the right sat the bass, in the centre the 
air, and the treble on the left. He stood in the 
centre. Then, after preluding a few notes, giving 
the pitch to each of the parts in succession, the 
music would commence, and he, with the palm of 
his left hand turned upwards, and that of his right 
downwards, would beat time, imitating the motions 
of a top sawyer. His class was decorous, but de- 
corum could not always resist the strange effect of 
his solemn motions. We have seen mcsstri in vari- 
ous opera-houses in Europe and America, and have 
sometimes laughed at the enthusiasm they displayed, 
but never did we see one more thoroughly occupied 
in admiration of his work than this humble nicesti^o 
of the village school. 

Humble as he was, however, he produced fruit 
which was destined to be permanent. From the 
practice of singing in this class, confidence was ac- 
quired, and the church was no longer dumb. The 
humble foundation being laid, a better taste began 
to develop itself. But some of his tunes possessed 
startling merit, and in the psalmody of those 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 1 29 

churches tunes are still sung which were taught to 
the parents of the present generation by the obscure 
Burbiclge. 

All the objects which were hoped to result from 
the founding of Pineville were now accomplished. 
The people were blessed with health, a school 
flourished and placed the means of a classical edu- 
cation within the reach of many who would other- 
wise have wanted that advantage, and a church was 
opened every Sunday for religious worship. Let 
us now devote a short time to the consideration of 
social and domestic life in Pineville. 

The inhabitants were all planters. They met with- 
out any consciousness of social inequalities, and as 
there were no persons either above or beneath them, 
their manners were distinguished by the most per- 
fect simplicity and absence of every sort of affecta- 
tion. They were all cotton planters, and had, 
therefore, the same interests, the same wishes, the 
same hopes, the same fears. In process of time, by 
means of intermarriage they were all connected 
with each other, and related by blood, so that it was 
a community in which the most perfect unity 
of sentiment and of thought prevailed. Their 
habits of living were as simple as their manners. It 
was long before any enterprising person conceived 
the idea of opening a market, so that the planters 
were supplied from the produce of their farms. On 
a certain day in every week a calf was killed and 



130 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

distributed among a club of eight persons, who 
united for that purpose. In the early life of the 
village, he who killed the calf, having for his portion 
the head as well as the loin, entertained all the vil- 
lao^ers at his house and reo^aled them with calf's 
head soup. On another certain day, a lamb or a 
porker (called a shoat) was killed and divided 
among four families. Then eight or sixteen would 
unite for the purpose of killing and distributing a 
cow. Thus for three days in the week a supply of 
butcher's meat was furnished. The wants of the 
remaining days were furnished from the resources 
of the poultry houses of the planters. In the course 
of time a beef market was opened twice a week for 
the sale of that article. The veal, lamb, and pork 
were always furnished as we have described. The 
Santee River being near, it might have been expected 
that fish would frequently find its way to the table ; 
but the supply was meagre, and fish was always a 
rarity. An enterprising Yankee in the neighbor- 
hood would have made a good business by following 
the occupation of a fisherman. The bream of the 
Santee, taken from the neighborhood of Pineville, 
is one of the most delicious fish that is eaten. 

Pineville was an isolated community. Situated 
about fifty miles from Charleston, in a part of the 
district remote from the great thoroughfares, and 
never frequented by wayfaring men, it was cut off 
from all social intercourse with people elsewhere. 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 13I 

When the month of June found all the villagers 
assembled for the summer, their feelings were some- 
what analogous to those of persons who m.eet to- 
gether on board of a ship for the purpose of making 
a long voyage. All commerce with the external 
world seemed Interdicted. Entertalnlne an Indefin- 
able distrust of the climate of the country, they re- 
garded their village with a sort of superstitious 
affection, and viewed as a calamity any accident 
which might make it necessary to spend a single 
nlo^ht elsewhere. The air was not to be changed. 
Whether for better or for worse, he who commenced 
the season by breathing the air of Pineville, must 
continue to do so ; or, if he left It, he should not 
return before autumn. It is not strange, therefore, 
that the sense of mutual dependence was Intense. 

And sweet and balmy Is that Pineville air ; in- 
viting repose, tranquillizing the troubled frame, and 
filling the mind with sweet and hopeful thoughts. 
When the lungs, vexed and harassed by the dust of 
the metropolis and the cruel east winds of the coast, 
inhale the soft and fragrant breath of the pines, how 
voluptuous is the sensation of rest, of perfect re- 
pose ! How great a blessing to suffering humanity 
has God thus deposited in the most gloomy and 
desolate-looking portion of his creation ! 

The habits of every house were alike. At sun- 
rise breakfast was served, and the planters went out 
to visit their plantations. Those who owned estates 



132 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

in the neighborhood did this every day ; others at 
intervals, greater or less, throughout the week. But 
whether he visited his plantation or not, the planter 
was generally on his horse, and inspected those 
plantations which were within an easy ride. Hunt- 
ing also afforded the means of passing the time. 
Deer and foxes abound in the neighborhood, and 
the Santee Swamp would sometimes furnish a still 
more exciting sport by offering wolves and bears 
to the hunters. After the morning's ride was over, 
the post-office or the village store was the general 
rendezvous and lounging-place. Here politics and 
crops were the never-failing topics of conversation. 

At one o'clock dinner was served. One old lady, 
who died in 1848, never dined later than half-past 
twelve. A portion of the afternoon was always de- 
voted to sleep. Every piazza was furnished wtih 
long benches, and these formed the rude beds on 
which the gentlemen invariably indulged in the lux- 
ury of a siesta. 

The siesta over, and whilst the sun was still high 
above the horizon, the kettle would bubble for the 
evening refection, and hot tea and cakes would be 
offered to refresh those whose heavy sleep rendered 
some refreshment necessary. This early meal, of 
course, indicated that supper would close the labors 
of the day. And now the active duties of the day 
being over, and every family having refreshed 
themselves with tea or coffee, social life commenced. 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA, 1 33 

Every one came to tea prepared either to make or 
receive visits. 

Bonnets and hats were articles of female dress 
which were entirely ignored in the Pineville evening 
visits. In attire a simple elegance prevailed. 
Young ladies usually dressed in white ; the aged 
were clad in graver colors. Visits were uncere- 
rnonious. The guests were received in the piazza. 
No one ever expected to be invited into the house, 
and persons might spend a season in social inter- 
course with the people, without seeing the interior 
of any house but their own. Sometimes chairs 
were offered to the visitors, but, more generally, the 
long benches with which the piazza was furnished 
were the only seats. No refreshments were offered 
or expected. But if any one asked for a glass of 
water, the experienced servant would hand a suffi- 
cient number of glasses of the pure element to 
satisfy every one present. For the water (got from 
wells) was cold, clear, insipid, and refreshing, and 
all seemed to sympathize in each other's thirst. 

But though the visiting was done at night, and 
the piazza the reception room, the company did not 
sit in the dark. In front of the house a fire of 
light-wood formerly, in later times of pine-straw, 
was kept constantly burning. The reasons for this 
practice were manifold. It diffused a cheerful light 
over the otherwise dark and gloomy lot. The 
smoke, too, was supposed to be conducive to health ; 



134 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

and the light certainly attracted night-flies and 
moths from the inferior lights of the dwelling. 
Around these fires the children would sport. Each 
little fellow would take a pride in having a little 
fire of his own ; the larger and more daring would 
show their courage by leaping through the flames. 
Around its cheerful blaze time seemed to fly on 
golden wings. It was literally light to the dwelling, 
and a house without its yard fire appeared desolate 
and sorrow-stricken. It was the daily task of the 
hostler to collect materials sufficient to keep the 
light burning until bedtime. By ten o'clock social 
life was over, and the repose of sleep sought. 
Whilst the visitor was preparing to return home, 
the servant lit his lantern, and with this simple but 
necessary escort, she trod the streets of the village 
with as much security as the halls of her own 
mansion. 

Hunting, riding, and social visiting were the 
several and separate amusements of the sexes in 
Pineville. The chief amusement of which they par- 
took, in common, was dancing. The languid city 
belle, who cannot conceive of the exertion necessary 
to a dance in summer, except, indeed, under the 
exhilarating influence of a watering-place, may 
stare ; but the unsophisticated youth of both sexes 
in Pineville regarded dancing as both proper and 
natural. The month of June would be devoted to 
feeling at home, and then, by way of making a 



CRAVEX COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. I 35 

Start, the Fourth of July would be celebrated by a 
ball. This first taste would be followed by a desire 
for more. During the heat of summer, parties, 
simple and of short duration, would be arranged by 
the gentlemen — a certain number, in turn, bearing 
the moderate expense and acting as managers, so as 
to have one every fortnight. At these parties the 
company would assemble early, and by midnight all 
would be quiet. As summer would wane the pas- 
sion would increase. The public assemblies were 
found to be of too rare occurrence, and all sorts of 
expedients would be resorted to for the purpose of 
getting up a dance. If a lady should put her patch- 
work quilt in the quilting frame, the young ladies 
would go in the evening to assist in the interesting 
occupation of quilting, and the young gentlemen 
would go to assist the latter in threading their nee- 
dles. The rest may easily be guessed. In a short 
time the quilting frame would disappear, and the 
young people would be found threading the mazes 
of the dance. Benevolent ladies, too, would be im- 
portuned, and not in vain, to throw open their 
rooms to the young people. Private parties would 
multiply, and the season would close with the Jockey 
Club ball ; and now, all courtships being brought 
to a conclusion, and frost having opened the doors 
of the prison-house, the village would pour out its 
inhabitants and become, during the winter months, 
like a city of the dead. 



136 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

Nothing can be imagined more simple or more 
fascinatinof than those Pineville balls. Bear in 
mind, reader, that we are discussing old Pineville as 
it existed prior to 1836. No love of display gov- 
erned the preparations ; no vain attempt to outshine 
a competitor in the world of fashion. Refresh- 
ments were provided of the simplest character, such 
only as the unusual exercise, and sitting beyond the 
usual hours of repose, would fairly warrant. Nothing 
to tempt a pampered appetite. Cards were usually 
provided to keep the elderly gentlemen quiet, and 
the music was only that which the gentlemen's ser- 
vants could produce. The company assembled 
early. No one ever thought of waiting until bed- 
time to dress for the ball ; a country-dance always 
commenced the entertainment. The lady who stood 
at the head of the dancers was entitled to call for 
the figure, and the old airs, Ca L^a, Moneymusk, 
Haste to the Wedding, and La Belle Catharine 
were popular and familiar in Pineville long after 
they had been forgotten, as dances, everywhere 
else. Ah, well do we remember with what an ex- 
ulting step would the young man, who had secured 
the girl of his choice, exhibit his powers of the 
poetry of motion, when his partner called for the 
sentimental air of La Belle Catharine. How 
proudly would he perform the pas seitl on one 
side of the column, while his partner did the same 
on the other ; how gracefully would they unite at 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLhYA. 137 

the head of the column, to cross hands ; how tri- 
umphantly would he lead her down the middle ; 
and when the strain was closing, and the leader 
commenced with his bow the prolonged rest on the 
final note, how full of sentiment, of grace, and of 
courtesy was the bow with which he would salute 
his fair lady ! But those are scenes to be lived over 
in thought. No untutored imagination can con- 
ceive them. They are gone forever. Even in 
Pineville they have become things which were. 
Time can never restore them ; but so lone as an 
old Pineville heart beats, so long will be embalmed 
in the most fragrant memory, the recollection of a 
Pineville country-dance. 

The staple dance of the evening was the cotillion. 
But as this so much resembles the modern quadrille, 
it needs no special description. And now, when a 
country-dance, and one or two cotillions, had gently 
stirred up the spirits of the dancers, the signal would 
be given for the exhilarating reel. A six-handed 
reel ! Come back for an instant, thou inexorable 
past, and bring again before me that most fasci- 
nating of movements ! No lover now claims the 
hand of his beloved ; this is no scene for sentiment, 
for soft whisper, for the gentle pressure of the 
thrilling hand. No ; this is a dance. Your partner 
must be a lively, merry, laughter-loving girl ; brisk, 
active, animated. Let none venture on it but the 
genuine votaries of Terpsichore. There is no room 



138 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

for affected display. You must retain your self- 
possession, for the movement is brisk ; but with 
self-possession there is no fear of awkwardness. 
The reel is called ; the sets are formed, three couple 
in each, who generally agree to dance together. 
The music commences, and off they bound. In 
rapid succession, we have the chase, the hey, the 
figure of eight, right and left, cross hands, down 
the middle, grand round, cross again, and off the 
whole party darts again, to recommence the intoxi- 
cating reel. Has your glove come off ? then dance 
ungloved, for you have no time to put it on again ; 
the hands must move as briskly as the feet. And 
as your pace quickens with intense delight, hark 
how the fiddlers sympathize with your joy ! Their 
stamps become quicker, the music plays with accel- 
erated time, and bows and fingers move with a 
rapidity which Paganini might envy but could never 
hope to emulate. The powers of endurance are 
taxed to the uttermost, and set after set retire ex- 
hausted. The last set left generally contains some 
unlucky wight of middle age, who ventures once 
more to enjoy the luxury of the dance. Now, how 
wickedly do his young companions (his partner, the 
instigator) persevere ! How gayly do they strive, 
by keeping him on his feet, to punish his presump- 
tion in venturing among them. But they know not 
that men of a certain age possess powers of endur- 
ance beyond their tender years, and after a pro- 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 1 39 

tracted contest find that they have caught a tartar. 
The company look on, all parties deeply sympathiz- 
ing, and the young are, at last, obliged to acknowl- 
edge themselves vanquished. 

The reel is the offspring of the genuine love of 
dancing. There are none of the auxiliary motives 
to learn its movements. No room for the gratifica- 
tion of vanity in the display of graceful motion ; no 
prurient fancy to be gratified by the privilege of 
encircling the waist of a handsome girl, and feeling 
her tresses kiss your cheek at every step she takes 
in the whirl of the voluptuous waltz, or in the lasciv- 
ious movements of the Schottisch, which we once 
heard a friend blunderingly, but happily, call a 
Sottise, It Is a scene of perpetual motion and good 
humor. No solemn face may venture on it ; for 
laughter, gay and unconcerned, is its proper accom- 
paniment. No soft nothings can here be whispered, 
for the duties of the dance require your constant 
attention ; no graceful insouciance can be tolerated, 
for the comfort and happiness of others depend ab- 
solutely upon your own good behavior, no less 
than upon theirs. Many persons, thinking it too 
fatiguing, have fancied that the Virginia reel might 
be a happy substitute for it. But this is long and 
languid. It is like diluted spirits substituted for pure 
champagne. It languished, and, in the phrase of an 
indictment, languishingly did live, until, at last, it 
died of its own stupidity. 



I40 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

The evening's entertainment was always con- 
cluded with the boulanger, a dance whose quiet 
movement seemed to come in appropriately, in order 
to permit the revellers to cool off, before exposure 
to the night air. It was a matter of no small im- 
portance to secure a proper partner for this dance, 
because, by an old custom, whoever last danced with 
a lady, had a prescriptive right to see her home. 
And this reminds us of another peculiarity of Pine- 
ville life, viz., that though every family kept a car- 
riage, nobody ever thought of returning from a ball 
by any other mode but on foot. No carriage was 
fever seen in the streets after dark. The servant, 
with the lantern, marshalled the way ; and the lady, 
escorted by her partner, was conducted to her home. 
And as the season drew towards a close, how interest- 
ing became these walks ! how many words of love 
were spoken ! how many hearts saddened by the dis- 
covery of the hopelessness of an attachment ! how 
many persons, now living, whose destinies depended 
upon these walks ! To many a dancer the boulan- 
ger was a season of consciousness, of apprehension, 
of delight reined in, of hope and of fear ; and there 
are numbers still living, in whose recollections a 
certain dance of this description will remain in- 
delibly fixed. 

Besides regular and occasional dancing parties, 
riding parties would be got up to promote inter- 
course between the sexes ; for you must know, 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 141 

gentle reader, that love became an epidemic in 
Pineville, just like the fever, and that its exacerba- 
tions were always greatest when the season was 
drawing to a close. The proprietor of a plantation 
in the neighborhood would invite the young people 
to drive there on some afternoon and partake of 
the luxuries of plantation life. Then every young 
man hastened to secure a partner for the drive ; 
and at the appointed hour, each in his gig (for in 
in those days gigs were, and buggies were not), the 
happy party would set off, bound on enjoyment. 
The amusements on such occasions would be such 
as spontaneously suggested themselves, but all was 
apt to terminate in the dance. And sometimes it 
would happen, that the eager lover, grasping at his 
opportunity, would pop the question on the outward 
drive, and if refused, the luckless wight would have 
to endure the mortification of the homeward drive 
— tHe-a-tete with her who had rejected the offer of 
his love. Oh, blessed be the healing hand of time, 
which can make the recollection of even such scenes 
a source of enjoyment ! 

The serenade is one of the most obvious modes 
of paying delicate attentions to a lady ; and those 
who possessed musical skill frequently had their 
talents put in requisition by young lovers. We 
almost always remarked, however, the observance 
of a sort of rigid impartiality in the performance of 
this attention. If a serenading party went out, 



142 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

every young lady came in for her share of the com- 
pliment ; the only distinction being observed was, 
that the best airs and the lono^est time were devoted 
to those for whose favor the entertainment was 
specially provided. 

The season was always closed by the races and 
the Jockey Club ball. The St. Stephen's race- 
course, about half a mile from Pineville, is one of 
the oldest and best in the State. The track runs 
over a level surface, and within it is a large pond, 
which, being drained and kept clear of trees, affords 
from every point an undisturbed view of the horses 
throughout the race. After the settlement of Pine- 
ville, the races were established for the end of Oc- 
tober ; and as the season is then comparatively safe, 
lovers of sport would there meet from various parts 
of the country. The races, which at that time con- 
tinued two days, were ushered in by a dinner and 
concluded by a ball. About fifty years ago, dancers 
of both sexes drew lots for both places and partners, 
so that there was, for the first two sets at least, no 
liberty of choice ; but the practice was discontinued 
too early for us to have any knowledge of it but 
from tradition. The purses were altogether made 
up by a moderate subscription, as no money was 
taken at the gates ; and though the subscription 
was general, the stakes were too moderate to tempt 
the cupidity of professional sportsmen ; so that, I 
believe, no horse of distinction ever appeared on 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 1 43 

the course between the years 1 794 and 1836. Since 
that time, the club has been remodelled, the time of 
meeting changed to January, the subscription in- 
creased, and the club now ranks among the most 
respectable in the State. 

Before we quit the subject of amusements in 
Pineville, it is meet that we conclude by showing 
one of their most natural issues. Let us take you, 
reader, to a wedding. The spirit of improvement 
has pervaded every portion of the State, and a 
country wedding differs now very little from one 
celebrated in the city. A Charleston pastry-cook 
provides the entertainment, and Brissenden's band 
the music. The company is invited to assemble at 
a late hour, and no one is expected to stay over to 
breakfast. But it was not so in days of yore. It 
was not so when we hailed as a resident of Craven 
County. The events of 1836 have entirely changed 
the aspect of society, and the difference between the 
period before and that since that epoch is as great 
as is generally perceived in the course of a century. 
Before the wedding, a visit to Charleston was in- 
dispensably necessary. The bride-elect could not 
think of getting married, without making in person 
the arrangement of her trousseau. Then, a visit to 
Charleston was, by no means, an every-day occur- 
rence. An annual visit was common ; but there 
were many who let years pass over without seeing 
the metropolis. The preparatory visit being made, 



144 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

and all arrangements completed, the day would be 
fixed and invitations extended. Several days be- 
fore the wedding the bridesmaids would assemble 
at the house of the betrothed, and to them were 
committed all the preparations for the feast. The 
master of the house furnished the materials, and the 
busy and active fingers of the bridesmaids trans- 
formed them into cakes and confections, jellies, 
custards, tarts, and all other dainties which the 
occasion demanded. The master and mistress ap- 
peared, as it were, to retire from the management 
of the household, and leave every thing to the con- 
trol of those young friends who came to attend 
their companion to the sacrifice, and to prepare her 
for it. On the evening appointed the bridegroom 
(who has been denied the eiiti^ee to the house since 
the arrival of the bridesmaids) arrives, the invited 
guests follow, and, at the hour appointed, the happy 
couple stand before the priest and receive the nup- 
tial benediction. And, as soon as this is pro- 
nounced, the fiddles, which are in waiting, strike up 
the time-honored air of "■ A Health to the Bride.'* 
Friends and relatives crowd up to offer their con- 
gratulations and good wishes, and the poor bride is at 
last permitted to take her seat, sadly in doubt whether 
the ceremony itself or the congratulations upon It 
were the severer trial. Now the waiters appear with 
tea and coffee, followed up directly with wine, cake, 
and cordials, and this over, the dancing commences. 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. I45 

The first groomsman opens the dance with the 
bride, the groom with the first bridesmaid, and, by 
a time-honored custom, the air is '' Haste to the 
Wedding." After this the dancing continues until 
near midnight, when supper is announced, and the 
bride is led into supper by the first groomsman. 
The supper table is a bona-fide supper table, ar- 
ranged to hold all the guests. Considerable in- 
genuity is shown in devising a suitable form, so as 
to afford the greatest accommodation, and in deco- 
rating it. Towers of cake, wreaths, ornaments of 
every description, may be seen, while by their side 
an ample provision of turkeys, of ducks, of hams, of 
rice, and of bread, all showing that it is not a sham, 
nor designed to be treated as such ; wine, too, flows 
in abundance ; in fact, the only article which appears 
to be scarce is water. Toasts are drunk ; jokes fly 
about, and all are happy, except the parties most 
concerned, who feel that, though happy, it is too 
newly to be quite at rest. 

After supper the bride disappears. She is no 
longer seen in the festive hall ; but the music is 
playing, and the dancing is proceeding, and one by 
one the bridesmaids drop in, looking very mysteri- 
ously, and the dancing proceeds, not the less bois- 
terous from being after supper, and by degrees the 
elderly folks drop off, and the groom becomes miss- 
ing, and the hours wear on apace, and the dance be- 
comes more languid, and by two or three o'clock in 



146 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

the morning all becomes quiet, and the parties have 
sought their beds to recover strength for the duties 
of the following day. 

And herein was exhibited the old-fashioned hospi- 
tality of the planters. Every guest was lodged for 
the night. Beds were arranged everywhere. If the 
house was too small some out-building w^as arranged 
for the occasion. And, O reader, if you were one 
of the. young men, you would have enjoyed that 
night, but if you had passed the first excitement of 
young blood, and were entertaining any vague con- 
ceptions of the blessing of repose after a night of 
revelry, you were doomed to a cruel disappoint- 
ment. Every device that ingenious youth can in- 
vent is brought to disturb your repose. Perhaps on 
entering your sleeping apartment you find your bed 
suspended near the ceiling. If you succeed in de- 
positing your wearied body, you are roused by the 
entrance of a gang of roistering visitors, who come 
to inquire after your repose. Well ! we have had 
our share of the sport, and must not repine if we 
have had to witness the day, or rather the night, of 
retribution. In time, however, even the most rest- 
less spirits are exhausted, and by the dawn of day 
sleep comes to give repose to your wearied brow. 

If your lot gives you a bed in the house, your ears 
are saluted soon after dawn by the fiddlers playing 
at the door of the nuptial chamber the old air of 
" Health to the Bride," and somehow it happens 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 147 

that the groom is always the first stirring after 
this. 

As the morning advances the company gradually 
assemble in the drawing-room, and breakfast is an- 
nounced. Each bridesmaid presides at a certain 
portion of the breakfast-table, and the scene here is 
almost as hilarious as that of last evening's supper. 
After breakfast the house becomes quiet. The 
gentlemen mount their horses and ride off, some- 
times to hunt — at all events, to take hearty and 
vigorous exercise, for nothing is more conducive to 
dispel the effects of last night's dissipation. At two 
o'clock the company re-assemble ; and on this occa- 
sion you will find all the neighbors within visiting 
distance (which may be twenty-five miles), who are 
invited to partake of the festivities of the occasion. 
From the dinner-table the party adjourn to the ball- 
room, and last night's scene is repeated. On the 
morning of the third day the party disperses, and 
the young couple is left to the enjoyment of domes- 
tic bliss. 

We have already said that the citizens of Pine- 
ville were all planters. Unpretending and unambi- 
tious, they never sought distinction in the walks of 
public life. We hope it may not be thought in- 
vidious if we notice, among the dead, a few of those 
who may be considered among the notabilities of 
the place. 

We have had occasion already to introduce the 



148 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

name of Capt. John Palmer, the father and founder 
of the village. By the maternal line he was the 
great-grandson of Philip Gendron, the Huguenot 
emigrant, Avho has been more than once named in 
this essay. His father, Mr. John Palmer, of Gravel 
Hill, was so distinguised for enterprise and success 
in the making of turpentine, that he is known by 
tradition, even now, after the lapse of more than 
seventy years, as Turpentine John Palmer. Capt. 
Palmer was an active partisan during the war of the 
revolution, and secured the esteem of Marion, who 
made him one of his aids. He was a fine model of 
a patriarch. Benevolent, his hand was as open as 
day to melting charity, but no autocrat could be 
more arbitrary. No one dared dispute with him, 
for his arguments were all ad hominem ; but, by 
appearing to yield, the weakest would gain their 
point with him. He had never been indoctrinated 
in the arts of logic or rhetoric, but his letters, many 
of which we have seen, are excellent specimens of 
clear good sense and pure idiomatic English. It is 
remarkable that this quality of style is by no means 
as common now as then, when the means of educa- 
tion were not so easily procurable. After struggling 
manfully and successfully through the gloomy and 
disastrous period from the commencement of the war 
to the introduction of cotton, he died in 181 7, aged 
sixty-eight years, leaving a large number of descend- 
ants by four children, three of whom survived him. 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. I49 

Capt. Peter Gaillard was another of the founders 
of the village. He was several years the junior of 
Capt. Palmer, whose eldest daughter he married e7i 
sccondes 7ioces. He possessed an ample patrimony, 
but in common with other wealthy men, found that, 
in consequence of the depressed state of the agri- 
cultural interest, and the precarious nature of the 
Santee Swamp, on which his estates lay, his wealth 
was only a source of expense, and ruin appeared to 
stare him in the face. The frequency of the freshets 
in Santee Swamp making it almost impossible to 
raise corn in it, he purchased, about the year 1 794, 
a tract of land near Nelson's Ferry, in St. John's 
Berkeley, for the purpose of cultivating provisions. 
In that year Gen. Moultrie planted cotton on his 
Northampton estate, in the same parish. The next 
year Capt. Gaillard tried it on his new purchase, 
the Rocks, and found that the soil was eminently 
congenial. His success (Gen. Moultrie's experi- 
ment appears to have been a failure) gave an impe- 
tus to the new culture, and before the year 1800, 
cotton was the staple culture of those two parishes. 
It is about twenty years since Capt. Gaillard's death, 
and perhaps thirty since he retired from the pur- 
suit of agriculture ; but such was the strength of 
his mind, the correctness of his observations, and 
the soundness of his judgment, that it may be 
doubted whether any material improvement has 
been effected in the cotton culture since his time. 



I50 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

His Opinions are still quoted with respect by those 
who knew him, and those who never enjoyed that 
advantage reverently embrace the traditions and 
ponder over them. He was a remarkably gentle- 
\ manlike-looking man ; one of the last who continued 
the use of fair-top boots. He is said to have been 
fond of carving with his knife, and the balustrades 
of his piazza bore testimony to this trait. Having 
built a fine new house on the Rocks plantation, he 
abandoned the habit, so far as the house was con- 
cerned ; but a servant always brought him a cypress 
shingle after dinner, on which he would indulge in 
his favorite pursuit. He was three times married. 
His first wife, the only one by whom he had issue, 
was Miss Porcher, sister of the late Major Samuel 
Porcher. The second was Anna Stevens, nee 
Palmer, widow of Oneal Gough Stevens ; and his 
third, Caroline Theus, 7iee Theus, widow of Mr. 
Theus, formerly an eminent merchant of Charles- 
ton. He left a large family of sons and daughters, 
and his descendants are very numerous. 

Science and humanity mourned, in 1817, the un- 
timely death of Dr. James Macbride. He was a 
native of Sumter district, and was educated at Yale 
College, where he was a contemporary of Mr. Cal- 
houn, and of our late venerable bishop. He en- 
gaged in the pursuit of medicine, and, settling in 
Pineville, married Miss Eleanor Gourdin, daughter 
of the Hon. Theodore Gourdin of that village. As 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA, 151 

a physician he was eminently successful, and he was 
distinguished for sound judgment and a thorough 
knowledge of his profession. He removed to 
Charleston to enter upon a wider field of practice, 
but before he had time to reap any of the promised 
fruit, fell a victim to yellow fever. The opinions of 
Dr. Macbrlde are treasured, and to this day quoted 
with respect. He had an intuitive perception of 
truth ; in matters which were the subjects merely of 
conjecture, subsequent researches have proved the 
accuracy of his judgments. His recreation was 
botany. He was the friend and correspondent of 
Elliott, and assisted largely in the preparation of 
the botany of South Carolina and Georgia. Mr. 
Elliott acknowledg^ed the oblioration, and In the 
preface to his work has paid a touching and affec- 
tionate tribute to the memory of one who richly 
deserves his regard and could fully appreciate his 
own genius. Dr. Macbrlde left a son and two 
daughters. His widow survived him many years, 
and was universally admired for the excellence of 
her disposition and the elegance of her manners. 
His son lived but to see manhood. His daughters 
still survive. 

Among the earliest victims of that terrible malady 
which, for a time, depopulated Pineville, was Dr. 
John J. Couturier. He was a native of St. Ste- 
phen's Parish, was educated at the Pineville Acade- 
my, in which afterwards he served as an assistant 



152 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

teacher, and succeeded to the practice of Dr. Mac- 
bride. For seventeen years he labored assiduously 
in his vocation, and his zeal, his activity, his skill, 
and his unaffected benevolence, secured him the 
love and respect of a large clientage. His income 
was large, but hardly exceeded his expenditure, and 
his friends would often urge him to exact of some 
of his poor patients a moderate payment — if not in 
money, at least in articles of country produce, which 
would be useful to him and convenient for them to 
spare. But he would never consent. He looked 
for payment in another world, and would always say 
that he had a better paymaster than any of his pa- 
tients could ever be. He died in 1834. His widow, 
formerly Miss Palmer, daughter of John, and grand- 
daughter of Capt John Palmer, and their three 
daughters, still survive. 

Mr. Charles Stevens was one of the most re- 
spected citizens of Pineville. Feeling himself en- 
dowed with talents which he would not willingly 
permit to lie idle, he was admitted to the bar, and 
hoped to devote himself to the calling of his pro- 
fession. But a cruel deafness seized him, which 
proved incurable, and forever destroyed his hopes. 
Before it had become so great as to shut him out 
from social intercourse, he spent two years in the 
occupation of teacher in the Pineville Academy, and 
then he engaged in commerce, and opened a store 
in Pineville, which for many years furnished the 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. I 53 

planters with their wants, and brought him wealth. 
His deafness increased to such an extent that he 
could hear only when the speaker's mouth was ap- 
plied to his ear. And yet he could always converse 
with ease with the members of his family. Mr. 
Stevens was an interested observer of politics, and 
on all stirring occasions took such an active part, by 
means of his pen, that, with his acknowledged 
abilities, he was regarded as one of the leading 
minds of the late Union party. Thoroughly ex- 
cluded, however, from familiar intercourse with 
men, he lived very much in a world of his own crea- 
tion, and his views of politics were better adapted 
to a Utopia of his own imagination than to the 
actual world. He was universally beloved as well 
as esteemed. All his influence was directed to the 
cultivation of the literary tastes of his neighbors. 
He died in 1833. He married Susan, daughter of 
Mr. Rene Ravenel, and his widow, a son, and three 
daughters survived him. 

In 1 85 1, Major Samuel Porcher, the last surviv- 
ing founder of Pineville, died, in the eighty-third 
year of his age. Major Porcher was educated in 
England,, and on returning home after the war, 
commenced his career, as an agriculturist, on his 
plantation, Mexico, in St. Stephen's Parish. In 
common with all other planters, his life was a strug- 
gle until the introduction of the cotton culture, 
when he adopted it and cultivated it with great sue- 



154 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

cess to the end of his Hfe. He entertained a high 
opinion of the value of the lands in Santee Swamp. 
He inherited a large estate in it, and made numer- 
ous additions by purchase, all of which he deter- 
mined to secure from the freshets by means of an 
embankment. To this work, therefore, he ad- 
dressed himself, and resting his bank on the south 
bank of the Santee Canal, he continued it four 
miles down the river, where it now stands, the 
greatest result of private enterprise, perhaps, in the 
southern country. The embankment is four miles 
in length, its base is thirty feet, its height nine feet, 
and is so wide at the top that two persons may 
very conveniently cross each other on horseback. 
By means of this embankment he has reclaimed the 
upper portion of the swamp, which now yields large 
crops of corn and other grain. All that is wanting 
to render the work thoroughly successful, is a con- 
tinuation by his neighbors to the next bluff or 
headland on the river. If this were done, some of 
the best lands in America would be redeemed for 
cultivation. The Major was one of the happiest, 
the most amiable, and the most popular men in the 
State. At the age of twenty-one he married his 
cousin, Harriet Porcher, and they lived together 
more than fifty years. She died in 1843. Their 
home was the abode of elegant and of heartfelt hos- 
pitality. In winter they were rarely without guests, 
and at Christmas the house seemed to overflow 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. I 55 

with company, consisting not only of their numer- 
ous descendants, but of others who, in return for 
unaffected kindness, voluntarily offered this grateful 
attention. The Major was all his life subject to 
asthma, and he smoked incessantly. He eschewed 
the Spanish tobacco as a nuisance, but always had 
on hand a provision of several thousand American 
segars, which were made to his order. He was a 
man of great personal activity, and in the last year 
of his life manag^ed his horse with the fearlessness 
and dexterity of a youth. He had lived so long 
with his wife that he could hardly carry back his 
thoughts to the time when she was not his com- 
panion, and after her death he continued to speak 
of her as if she were still alive. He never, like 
many others, avoided the mention of her name. 
On the contrary, he took a positive pleasure in 
making her the subject of conversation. Her say- 
ings and doings were spoken of as familiarly and as 
naturally as if she still remained at the head of her 
family. It ought to be mentioned, as highly credita- 
ble to both employer and overseer, that at the time 
of his death, his overseer, Mr. Samuel Foxworth, 
had lived with him in that capacity upwards of 
thirty years. Two sons survive the Major, besides 
numerous other descendants by a son and daughter 
whom he survived. 

Mr. Robert Marion, formerly a member of Con- 
gress from the Charleston district, and Mr. Theo- 



156 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

dore Gourdin, a member from the Northeastern 
district, both lived in Pineville. Mrs. Anna Peyre 
Dinnies, now so favorably known in American litera- 
ture, was also, in her youth, a resident of Pineville, 
and so w^as the late Rev. Edward Thomas, rector, 
formerly of the church on Edisto, afterwards of St. 
John's Berkeley. John Gaillard, who so many 
years represented the State in the Senate of the 
United States, and Judge Gaillard, were both na- 
tives of St. Stephen's, but never, I believe, residents 
of Pineville.' 

Among the lions of Pineville was John Wall, an 
Irishman by birth, who lived there in the capacity 
of factor or general agent for Mr. Theodore Gour- 
din. He was an old, weather-beaten man, with a 

^ Craven County may enumerate, among her notables, the notorious David 
Hines. This person has been the subject of two biographies, one of which 
is, we believe, written by himself. We have never read either of them, but 
the last happening to fall into our hands, during a disengaged hour, we 
skimmed over a few of the introductory pages, and found them a tissue of 
falsehoods. He was born in St. Stephen's Parish ; his father was a poor but 
worthy and inoffensive man ; of his mother we cannot be certain of any 
information, and choose, therefore, to be silent. He first appeared before 
the public, as a rider in one of the Pineville races, when, being thrown from 
his horse, considerable interest was excited in his behalf. He got employ- 
ment on the plantation of Mr. John Palmer, of Maham's, in the humble 
capacity of cow-minder, and soon after was charged with the commission of 
a forgery, the trial for which resulted in his acquittal, but led the way to a 
subsequent extensive acquaintance with the Court of Sessions. He has no 
pretensions whatever to the title of M.D., which he assumes. We have 
always considered his career as a proof of the extreme gullibility of the 
American people. He has assumed, with success, the best names in the 
State, without possessing the manners, the address, or even the external ap- 
pearance of a gentleman, and he is destitute of all talents requisite for the 
profession of a rogue, except that of matchless effrontery. 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 1 57 

great deal of Irascibility, tempered with a large stock 
of benevolence. His predominating idea was at- 
tachment to the Interest of his patron. He always 
wore his hair in a quetcCy and on Sundays would ap- 
pear at church In knee breeches and silk stockings. 
His veins, which age had enlarged, would show 
themselves through his stockings, and the Irreverent 
boys would point to them In ridicule, believing that, 
In order to give more dignity to his shrunk calves, 
he had stuffed them with paper. He was useful to 
the public by discharging the duties of a magistrate, 
and when Mr. Gourdin's Influence promoted Pine- 
ville to the rank of a post town, Mr. Wall was 
appointed the postmaster. He had the reputation 
of being a miser, but we believe he hoarded only 
for his patron. Mr. Gourdin was a man full of 
many schemes, which were not very profitable, and 
Mr. Wall was said to have been never so happy as 
when his patron was prevented from intermeddling 
in his own business by his avocations In Washing- 
ton as a member of Congress. The mutual attach- 
ment of the benevolent patron and the humble 
factor reflected the brightest credit upon each. Mr. 
Gourdin bequeathed to him an annuity as a token 
of his sense of the value of his services, but the de- 
voted friend did not enjoy his munificence. He 
survived his patron but a few months, and appeared 
to die of a broken heart, lamenting the only man he 
ever loved. 



158 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

Before we bring this long and desultory sketch to 
a close, the nature of the subject appears to call for 
some remarks respecting health and disease. It was 
the search after health which led to the settlement 
of Pineville, and it was the prevalence, long con- 
tinued, of a fearful malady, which, in 1836, drove 
the inhabitants to seek refuge elsewhere. 

Whoever will consult Mouzon's map of St. Ste- 
phen's district, and compare it with the aspect 
which a map of the same region, if now constructed, 
would present, will naturally inquire, to what causes 
such a melancholy contrast is to be attributed. In 
the palmy days of this parish, the fourteen miles of 
road, which we described at the commencement of 
this sketch as leading from the canal to the church, 
passed in sight of upwards of twenty plantations. 
And such is the depth of the swamp, and so great 
was the demand for its valuable lands, that many 
more were to be found in the interior which were 
not seen from the road. The first cause of this 
desolation is to be found in the frequency and the 
irregularity of the freshets in the Santee River, 
which have reduced the garden of the State to an 
absolute wilderness. A few of the names on Mou- 
zon's map are extinct ; but the greater part may still 
be found in St. John's Berkeley, between Monck's 
Corner and the Eutaw Springs. Before the intro- 
duction of the cotton culture, the lands of this last 
parish were held in very little esteem. Mr. Philip 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. I 59 

Porcher had four sons, to whom he left plantations, 
and he was accustomed to lament the lot of him 
who had only a place in St. John's. That was the 
only son who was not compelled to quit his patri- 
mony. The three others, who were left to the in- 
heritance of Santee lands, were all obliged to abandon 
them, and seek in St. John's the means of making 
cotton. 

How far the unhealthiness of the country may 
have contributed to its depopulation, it is diffi- 
cult to say. Our own opinion is, that the insa- 
lubrity of our climate has been greatly exagger- 
ated. Nothing is more certain, than that we readily 
accommodate ourselves to a given standard of health, 
and scarcely desire any improvement on it. The 
tone of s*entiment on this subject, as well as on 
others, is, in a great measure, derived from the me- 
tropolis, and just in proportion as the sanitary condi- 
tion of Charleston has improved, does that of the 
surrounding country appear to have deteriorated. 
We have seen letters written from Somerton planta- 
tion, in midsummer, 1725, in which the writer speaks 
of having retired thither from the insalubrious cli- 
mate of Charleston. We have heard the late Mr. 
Daniel Webb say that, when a child, he was carried 
from Charleston to the neighborhood of Eutaw, for 
the benefit of his health. And it was a common 
practice for the late Mrs. Plowden Weston and 
her sister, Mrs. William Mazyck, to pay an annual 



r6o • HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

visit every midsummer to the plantation of their 
brother, Mr. PhiHp Porcher — a great inducement 
then beine a retreat from the summer heat of the 
city and the enjoyment of the luxuries of planta- 
tion life at that season. This gentleman died on 
his plantation, on Santee Swamp, in 1800, at the 
advanced age of seventy. At one period of his life 
he had lived in Charleston, but for several years he 
resided entirely on his plantation ; and we have 
often heard it said that, though within six miles 
of the village, and having built houses there for 
several of his children, he never saw Pineville. Mr. 
Edward Thomas, who died at the age of ninety, is 
said to have spent forty years without once quitting 
his plantation. It becomes, therefore, an interesting 
inquiry, what was the state of public health — what 
advantage was gained by the settlement of Pine- 
ville, and at what price ? 

The bane of this parish, like that of every portion 
of America, south and west of the Hudson River, 
was, and is, the intermittent fever of the autumnal 
months. This, when of frequent occurrence, be- 
comes habitual, is attended with enlargement of the 
spleen, a tendency to dropsy, and a general prostra- 
tion of the moral and intellectual, as well as of the 
physical man. This disorder was, perhaps, not more 
malignant in St. Stephen's than elsewhere ; but na- 
ture had kindly furnished an asylum wherein the 
ague-stricken patient might breathe in safety, re- 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. l6l 

cover from his malady, and enjoy the blessing of 
health, both of mind and of body. This asylum is 
the pine land. Here is enjoyed an exemption from 
intermittent fevers. 

But this exemption is purchased at a price which 
is often fatal. In proportion to the salubrity of the 
climate, is the danger attending exposure to one 
less healthful. And the price of exposure is not 
merely a simple and teasing intermittent ; but a 
fever, sharp, severe, dangerous, and frequently 
fatal. Few kinds of fever can be named more 
dreaded by the people of Charleston than the fever 
which is there found under the name of country 
fever ; and yet we have often heard Dr. Couturier 
declare that he had never seen a case of it in the 
whole range of his extensive practice. Equally 
dreaded and equally fatal is the myrtle fever of 
Sullivan's Island ; and yet nowhere do we find a 
higher enjoyment of health than in Charleston and 
on the island, the seats of these dreaded enemies. 
These are the price which the people pay for expo- 
sure, and a price of the same kind is exacted every- 
where else. So, when the people of Pineville would 
be alarmed by the visitation of a hot and agonizing 
fever, which threatened, if not speedily arrested, to 
terminate fatally, the people of the surrounding 
country would have no ailments of a more alarm- 
ing character than the ordinary intermittent of the 
climate. Now, so highly do we value the sensation 



1 62 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

of perfect health, that in order to enjoy it we would 
run the risk of incurring even a worse penalty than 
country fever. But any violation of the condition 
of its enjoyment — that is, any exposure at improper 
seasons, and under unfavorable circumstances — ren- 
ders one liable to be called upon to endure the pen- 
alty. It must be confessed, however, that even 
when no violation had been offered to the condi- 
tions, not only Pineville, but every other pine land, 
has presented sporadic cases of fevers. There are 
persons so sensitively and ridiculously alive to the 
reputation of a place for health, that no case of 
fever can occur without the cause being diligent- 
ly investigated ; and this ascertained, how frivolous 
soever it may be, the poor patient is allowed to die 
as soon as he may. And it is astonishing how friv- 
olous are the causes which are sometimes gravely 
assigned and believed. Thus, we remember when 
the first case of yellow fever made its appearance in 
Charleston, in 1839, it was said that the young man, 
its victim, had neglected to provide himself with a 
sufficient number of towels in going to the bath, 
and was consequently obliged to spend some time 
in damp clothes. It never occurred to these good 
people, that if such a trivial neglect could produce 
such fatal consequences, it would argue a deadliness 
of climate which ought to make every one, who has 
it in his power, to abandon it at once and forever. 
And we could not but remember how, when a 



CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 163 

school-boy, we used to run two miles to Maham's 
mill-pond, and on Saturday spent the whole morn- 
ing there in the luxurious bath, and no one ever 
dreamed of a luxury in the shape of a towel, beyond 
our ordinary handkerchiefs. The truth is, that dis- 
eases, fevers particularly, come from God ; to what 
end, we know not precisely, but a good one, we may 
be certain. If there were no fevers provided for us, 
we would be deprived of one of the means for quit- 
ting this world ; and it is worse than useless to 
speculate upon the causes which, in every case, and 
we believe we may say, in any case, generate this 
disorder. 

A pretty extensive observation has convinced us 
that we know absolutely nothing of the causes of 
fever. We have seen overseers living year after 
year in the rice fields of Cooper River, in the unin- 
terrupted enjoyment of perfect health. These ifi- 
stances are too common to be marked as exceptions. 
We have generally observed that those overseers 
are least sickly who are required to spend their 
summers on the plantation. We have known 
others who preserved their health until they re- 
sorted to the pine lands. In such cases, our ra- 
tionale of the cause is this : The overseer must be 
on the plantation late in the evening and early in 
the morning. If he lives on the plantation, he has 
no occasion to rise before his usual hour ; if he re- 
tires to a pine land, he must abstract from sleep 



164 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

that portion of time which is occupied in going to 
and returning from the plantation. Now, the sum- 
mer nights are very short, and though one may 
without inconvenience dispense with a half-hour's 
sleep on any given occasion, yet this trifling amount 
tells in the aggregate, and the climate has full op- 
portunity to work upon the exhausted body. As a 
general rule, too, the overseers are generally more 
healthy, whether living on plantations or in pine 
lands, than men of the same class living on their 
own pine-land farms. A more generous diet en- 
ables them to resist more effectually the effects of 
the climate ; and we believe that any planter who 
keeps a good table and enjoys it in moderation, who 
will not drink too much wine or other stimulating 
liquors, and who will not suffer his spirits to be de- 
pressed by the ominous croakings of his friends, 
may pass the summer on his plantation, if not in 
perfect health, at least with no visitation more fear- 
ful than the intermittent fever of the climate. The 
late Dr. Charles Rutledge spent the summer of 1800 
on Accabee plantation, and his family enjoyed per- 
fect health. In 1839, when the yellow fever raged 
in Charleston, and the citadel was full of pestilence, 
Major Parker removed his family, in midsummer, 
to the Martello Towers, and they all enjoyed per- 
fect health there. Other cases may without much 
trouble be enumerated, all going to prove, not that 
the climate has changed, as our people so rashly 



CRAVEN- COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 165 

assert, but that the city has become more healthful, 
and that our people have a greater fear of fever than 
formerly. The great clanger to be apprehended is 
not the remittent fever, which proceeds by rapid 
stages to a fatal crisis, but the slow and lingering 
intermittent. As we have before said, it is the repe- 
tition of these attacks which breaks down the man. 
They tell fearfully, too, upon children, who have 
not the strength to bear up against their ravages. 
They get ague cakes, and smiles and laughter no 
longer play about their little faces, and they know 
nothingof the joys and sports of childhood, and their 
melancholy countenances prey upon your spirits as 
you behold their listless tawny faces ; and at last 
God, in his mercy, takes them to himself, and they 
trouble this world no more. It is the child, there- 
fore, who has special cause to bless the benevolence 
which provides the pine lands. There they feel the 
balmy air as it kisses their cheeks, and it seems the 
breath of God, Inviting them to be happy, and 
laughter and childish glee fill the air with their 
hopeful and heart-reviving sounds. And let not 
the carping critic point to the tombstones which 
cluster about the cemeteries of our country, and 
show how many have died in childhood, and in 
the prime of manhood, even under the favoring 
influence of the pine-land air. Regard not their 
death. That is the debt of nature. But look to 
their lives. If they were happy in life, there is 



1 66 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 

little to be regretted in their death. But we must 
return to Pineville. 

Though seasons would occur, in which sickness 
and death would make their appearance in forms 
fmore appalling than usual, yet there was generally 
this consolation, that the rest of the country was 
equally the subject of the visitation. Thus, in 1817 
and 1819, the village was clad in mourning, but dis- 
ease and death were making hurrying strides every- 
where else. In the meantime all the usual appliances 
for preserving the public health were adopted. The 
ponds were drained, the ditches kept open, trees en- 
couraged to grow, yard fires kept up every night, 
and when the village had entered upon its fortieth 
year, its inhabitants fondly hoped that it was the 
abode of as much health as Providence deigns 
award to man. It was in autumn, 1833, that the 
first cases of that malady occurred, which drove 
away the people. A gentleman — we believe it was 
Mr. John Ravenel — was sick. The season was un- 
commonly dry, and the swamps exhaled offensive 
odors ; his daily rides led him by one of these, and 
he was supposed to have been poisoned by its exha- 
lations. But he was not alarmingly ill. His fever 
appeared to intermit, and men began to inquire 
whether fever and a^ue was to be one of the diseases 
of the village. And those who were not connected 
with him by any ties of intimacy, almost, perhaps 
quite, forgot that he was sick, when suddenly a ru- 



CRAVE.Y COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 1 6/ 

mor flies through the village that he is dying. And 
it was even so. The insidious fever, after amusing 
his victim for some days, and lulling his friends 
into a fatal sense of security, suddenly seized him 
with a rigor so intense that neither the patient's 
strength could resist it, nor mortal skill success- 
fully oppose it, and before the hot fit could come 
on he was dead. Another case of a similar charac- 
ter occurred, and the people gratefully welcomed 
the benignant frost, which stopped the progress of 
the fever, and opened the doors of their prison- 
house. The next summer, 1834, the fever returned, 
and in that and the two succeeding summers it con- 
tinued its ravages, until the most sanguine became 
desponding, and the village was almost totally de- 
serted. 

And as no cause could be assigned for the fearful 
visitation, so health again mysteriously returned to 
its ancient abode. By slow degrees the deserted 
houses acrain received their tenants. Men beo^an to 
forget their former terrors, and returned, and Pine- 
ville is again the abode of a number of planters. 
The prestige of its ancient fame still remains, to 
give it a sort of metropolitan character over the 
neighboring villages of Pinopolis, Eutawville, New 
Hope, and others, which have sprung up, like an- 
cient colonies, cherishing the sacred fires from the 
hearth of the maternal state. It justly boasts of 
its delicious shades, of its clear, cool, and refreshing 



1 68 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH. 

water, but it no longer claims a monopoly of health. 
And while other villages flourish in its neighbor- 
hood, and the communication with Charleston has 
become more easy, the sense of isolation, which once 
gave its people a peculiar characteristic, no longer is 
felt, and they have become cosmopolitan. The old 
times have gone, never to return, and it is to call 
back the memory of the first fifteen years of our 
life, and of the two which followed our accession to 
manhood, that we have made this humble attempt 
to depict scenes which, though perhaps faded, can 
never be forgotten. F. A. P. 



NOTES. 



NOTE A. 



THE FRENCH HUGUENOTS. 

" To gratify the lusts of power, princes have often encour- 
aged the emigration of their subjects, in the hope of increasing 
their wealth and multiplying their possessions. And individ- 
uals, led on by an ambitious desire to improve their personal 
fortunes, have abandoned the home of their fathers. But none 
of these motives prompted our Protestant ancestors to leave 
the delightful hills and valleys of their native France. They 
were no instruments in the hands of ambitious princes for the 
increase of their wealth and power. They did not seek a home 
in America, through mere love of adventure, or the ordinary 
inducements of pecuniary gain. Far nobler and higher were 
the motives that actuated them. They came in search of an 
asylum from the relentless persecution of a Catholic rule and 
of a cruel government. They sought a home in which they 
might enjoy, unmolested, the sweets of political and religious 
liberty. They longed to bear away their altars and their faith to 
a land of real freedom— a land allowing free scope to the ex- 
ercise of conscience in the worship of their Maker. 

" The name of Huguenot is synonymous with patient endur- 
ance, noble fortitude, and high religious purpose. Let us 
then be glad that we, a portion of their descendants, are per- 
mitted to meet, under the blessed light of liberty and religious 
freedom won by them, to pay some imperfect tribute to mem- 
ories so justly dear, and to remember their fidelity to posterity 
and to God. In reverting to the period when a plain but high- 

171 



1^2 NOTES, 

souled, energetic people were driven, by the persecutions of the 
Old World, to take refuge in this uncultivated wild, we trace 
the origin of this community ; we tread upon the ashes of the 
pioneers of religion, of domestic peace, and of social virtue. 
To call up scenes of other times, to revive the memories of 
the generous dead, to hold up ancestral virtue to praise and 
emulation, are grateful tasks, which seldom fail to achieve last- 
ing and beneficial results. We look back to our fathers for 
lessons of wisdom and piety. We take pleasure in recalling 
their brave deeds and their exalted virtues. We like to fre- 
quent their accustomed walks and haunts. With pleasure we 
sit around the firesides at which they sat, and worship before 
the altars at which they worshipped — and who will quarrel 
with this just principle of our nature ? Our Huguenot ances- 
tors came out to this country in the complete armor of grown- 
up, civilized men. They had been raised under the auspices of 
an old and refined civilization ; their minds and hearts had 
undergone the severest discipline of an improved age and of 
bitter experience. Up to the edicts of Nantes in 1590, stripes, 
persecutions, and outrage were exerted against the unfortunate 
Huguenots, and in a few years after this they were systemati- 
cally proscribed. In the year 1669 an edict against emigra- 
tion was issued. The Huguenots' worship was openly at- 
tacked. No seats in their temples were allowed. They were 
prohibited from acting in any branch of the learned profes- 
sions. They were not even allowed to pursue the calling of 
any business, by which to support their families. 

"It was after they were driven from their homes to take shel- 
ter in the deserts and forests ; when their property was confis- 
cated, their marriages annulled, and their children declared 
illegimate ; when their religious worship was wholly interdicted, 
their ministers expelled the country, or if found inhumanly 
put to death ; when, in short, all classes of men, women, and 
children were hunted down like wild beasts and brutally 
murdered while engaged in their religious rites ; it was then, 



NOTES. 173 

in these dread hours of trial and suffering, that our fathers 
conceived the idea of quitting their native land. Had they 
been rebellious subjects, harassing their sovereign by a vexa- 
tious resistance to the laws of the country, or by an attempt to 
subvert the peace and order of society ; had they been a sect 
of persecuting religionists, seeking to repress religious freedom 
or interfering with the dictates of conscience, some apology 
might be offered for the relentless spirit with which they were 
persecuted ; but history ascribes to these humble followers of 
the cross a character wholly different. Quiet and unobtrusive 
in their manners, devout in their religious exercises, faithful to 
their king, and obedient to the civil and political laws of their 
country, they begged only for that peace of conscience at- 
tendant on freedom of religious worship, and long bore, with 
the gentleness of the lamb, the bitter persecutions of their spir- 
itual foes. No violence, no contempt of their rights, no harsh 
vituperation, could drive them from fealty to their sovereign. 
From that sovereign they received a dreaded and armed per- 
secution. To him they yielded their hearty obedience in all 
things pertaining to the legitimate duties of his station. In the 
successes of their king they seldom failed to rejoice. Over his 
losses they always lamented, when these involved the honor 
and glory of France. He received from them sincere condo- 
lence for his misfortunes and fervent prayers for his happiness. 
But the heart of royalty, tempered by a corrupt and crafty 
priesthood, was steeled against all the blandishments of the 
pious Huguenots and their cup of bitterness was now full. 
The fiat of injured nature was gone forth. They resolved no 
longer to endure the oppressions of a home they loved still so 
fondly — but as a child loves his parent, who has mercilessly 
cast him upon the broad bosom of the world friendless and 
penniless. The impulses of nature were now obliged to yield, 
to the stern law of necessity ; and they began seriously to pre- 
pare to bid adieu to all they loved in their dear native France. 
" We behold in imagination the vessel as it begins to spread 



174 NOTES. 

its sail to the breeze on the distant voyage. We see the de- 
voted group — the grave husband, the anxious mother, the un- 
conscious babe — as they crowd the deck to gaze for the last 
time upon the receding shore. The bright sun gilds the dis- 
tant coast, with the rich and varied colors of a summer's land- 
scape. Behind those vine-clad hills they yet behold the dear- 
est objects of their affections — beloved friends, and the soil that 
gave them birth ; all the associations of early life — the remem- 
brance of childhood's home, their native woods and fountains, 
their school-boy and school-girl days, and the joy of manhood. 
But soon we may imagine them turning their visions to the 
blue heavens above them, now spanned by the arch of hope, 
and with unwavering courage nerving their hearts to follow on 
in the appointments of their heavenly leader. The sufferings 
of the mind are worse than those of the body, yet this did our 
ancestors brave for freedom of conscience ; nay, more perils 
by sea and land and the sickening horror of hope deferred, the 
pangs of disappointment and the untold miseries of coloniza- 
tion. We cast our eyes towards them in their new homes ; we 
see the interesting group. There still are the resolute hus- 
band, the brave-hearted matron, and the trembling infant 
sheltered in its mother's arm. Casting their eyes through the 
forests, they behold with wonder the majestic oak. Excited 
by the sublime exhibitions of nature's works, we may imagine 
them falling upon the earth and in tears of gratitude sending 
up the first evangelical prayer ever offered in these wilds. 
From among the thousands who at this time fled from these 
violent persecutions. South Carolina received a numerous and 
noble population, constituting some of the best families of the 
low country — the Marions, Horries, Legares, Desaussures, 
Manigaults, Laurens, Hugers, Porchers, Lessesnes, Prioleaus, 
Gaillards, Mazycks, Ravenels, Duboses, Couturiers, St. Ju- 
liens, and other well-known names ; a race of men gifted 
with every manly virtue, who have breathed a high-souled 
chivalric spirit into Carolina character, and have added to her 



NOTES. 175 

fame. May their memories be ever blessed for their fortitude, 
and the wise resolve to bear it unstained to a land of spiritual 
freedom ; and may no blight arise in future to retard our on- 
ward progress, or to damp the moral energies of our people ; 
may generations yet unborn, in dwelling upon the virtues of 
those who have gone before them, find something to respect 
and admire in the recollection of- our times and our names. 
May we succeed in acquiring for ourselves a character distin- 
guished for moral and mental beauty, so that in ages to come, 
when collected multitudes shall be gathered together under 
these shades to commemorate the virtues of our fathers, there 
shall be no dark shade in the fair face of our being, to break 
the bright moral view of the past." 

I throw myself on the indulgence of Mr. M. C. Maragne, 
from whose address, delivered in Abbeville last year, I have 
selected the foregoing extract. 



NOTE B. 



MARION'S MEN. 
.No monument has been reared to Ae memories of these 

he men who, ^henthe regular continental foops had wUh- 

rnen whom sternest suffenng could "°' ""^^' ^^'^°'",^ ,'^"t 
IneeTs could not daunt, whom neither hunger, nakedness, 

have taken in quoting and adopting h.s sentiments. I regret 
that I am unable to furnish his name. 



176 



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